Eight-months pregnant childhood sweetheart of Aston Villa star Agbonlahor 'harassed' mother of one of his children on Facebook

A pregnant ex-girlfriend of Aston Villa footballer Gabriel Agbonlahor has been accused of harassing the mother of one of his children by posting ‘distressing’ messages on Facebook.

Sophie Smith allegedly used a pseudonym to send Elizabeth Wheeler a 'considerable number' of 'distressing' messages via the social networking site between November 2008 and May this year, a court has heard.

Smith, of Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, has appeared before magistrates in Walsall charged with sending a false message by the public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety.

The 25-year-old, who is 36 weeks' pregnant, is understood to have strenuously denied the claims but has yet to enter an official plea to the charges.

Smith is the childhood sweetheart of the millionaire footballer and began dating him in 2003, before they later split.

She was represented in court by solicitor Michael O’Mahoney and did not enter a plea.

Mr O’Mahoney said it was alleged Smith had sent 'a considerable number' of messages and that there was 'also a suggestion of stalking and harassment'.

Magistrates granted Smith bail on the condition that she has no contact with either Miss Wheeler or Tia Hithersay, another of Agbonlahor's former girlfriends.

She was also ordered not to go to an address in Streetly, West Midlands, and not to use social network sites Facebook and Twitter under pseudonyms, JPs were told.

Smith is due back before the court on July 24.

Miss Wheeler is the mother of Agbonlahor's four-year-old son and has previously used Twitter account to talk about the father of her child.

After Villa lost to Chelsea at Villa Park in March, she wrote: 'Seeing my baby on the pitch wiv my hubby yday was one of the proudest moments of my life, cried like a baby only in front of 40,000 ppl.'

Miss Wheeler is said to have met the England striker on a 2006 'lads' holiday’ in Greece.

Agbonlahor has also previously dated ex-air stewardess and underwear model Ms Hithersay - who is a friend of Ms Wheeler on Twitter.