Yahoo News 'Drop the charges or I'll slash you up': Ex's chilling calls before threatening to burn house down
An ex-boyfriend threatened a woman saying "drop the charges or I'll slash you up" before telling police he was going to burn her house down.
Adam Greener - who previously briefly dated the woman - made threats, called her numerous times, turned up to her home and even demanded she move out of Stockton. Teesside Crown Court heard his campaign of harassment took place after she made a report to Cleveland Police following an incident outside her home.
Outlining the case, prosecutor Tabitha Buck said on November 22 damage was caused to her friend's vehicle and her living room window. Ms Buck said at about 7.15am she was woken by the car alarm going off and heard lots of banging. She claimed she saw two males damaging her friend's white SEAT Ateca.
The Middlesbrough court heard after she made the report the 36-year-old defendant repeatedly contacted her. Ms Buck said: "She started to receive calls from a number she knew to be the defendant's from when they briefly dated. The first call came in at 2pm on the 26th of November and the last call near midnight that same day.
"She answered a few of those calls and the first time she heard him say 'drop the charges or I'll slash you up'. He then told her that she had to move out of Stockton. The second time he spoke to her he mentioned that another individual had arranged an altercation."
The court heard she reported the calls to Cleveland Police and the defendant was told not to contact her. However, on the week of December 4 he attended her home with another male and apologised. He indicated he would sort the broken windows out and the woman thought it was the last she would hear from him.
Ms Buck said two weeks later on December 20, the woman received a visit from police asking if the defendant had been to her house that day. She said he hadn't and she had been home most of the day.
The court heard police told her they'd received a call from the defendant saying he was going to "burn her house down". Mr Buck said officers searched the home then left.
The Rosthwaite Avenue, Stockton defendant, was interviewed on December 21 and accepted responsibility for the witness intimidation. He accepted he'd been to her home address and said he would have torched her house if the police did not find her. He said he made the comment so he'd be arrested and off the streets for Christmas.
The court heard the defendant pleaded guilty to witness intimidation and harassment on December 22, last year and was remanded in custody at Hull Prison. The court heard while in prison he has been working with the drug and alcohol team, is on a methadone programme and has a job on the wellbeing team.
It was also stressed there was no suggestion the defendant was among the males who damaged the vehicle. The defendant has 25 convictions for 54 offences and was handed a 15-month prison sentence suspended for two years. He must complete 30-days rehabilitation and a nine-month drug rehabilitation requirement.
