Wellington, Sep 12 (IANS): A man in New Zealand tried to blackmail his former partner into cleaning his apartment by threatening to post a sex tape online, court said.

Feng Xiao, 21, met the victim while studying English at an Auckland language school and they started seeing each other from June 2013, New Zealand Herald reported Friday.

Court documents showed that by December the relationship had soured and the 20-year-old woman moved out of the flat they had shared.

Days after she left Xiao, he sent her messages online asking for money to pay for a large phone bill he had racked up making overseas calls.

When his ex-girlfriend refused, her estranged partner threatened her that unless she paid him NZ$1400 (about $1100) he would post a video of her performing a sex act on him.

Xiao also asked her to clean the apartment as part of the arrangement and then he sent her a snapshot photo of their sex tape to prove he was serious, the report said.

The victim lodged a complaint with police about the threat.

She said though the video was made with her consent, she had certainly not given her ex-partner permission to publish it online.

She also told police about the physical abuse she had suffered throughout the relationship.

Their courtship was punctuated by Xiao slapping and punching her in the face, the court documents stated.

Xiao was subsequently charged with three counts of assaulting a female and one of blackmail to which he pleaded guilty at Auckland District Court several months ago.

Xiao will be sentenced Monday.