‘Say goodbye to your kid because I'll kill you before the end of the day,’ Mansfield man’s threat to ex-partner
A Mansfield man who told his ex-partner to "say goodbye to your kid because I'll kill you before the end of the day," turned up in her back garden seconds later and punched a window through, a court has heard.
Chad Eccleston's ex “could tell straight away he was off his head on drugs and alcohol," when she received his call on a withheld number on November 6, said prosecutor Annelli Pritchard.
“I didn’t think it was a credible threat,” his ex said in a statement. “He has made this sort of threat before.”
But then she heard shouting from her garden and ran downstairs to lock the back door. She heard the smash as her kitchen window was put through, and a neighbour saw Eccleston, aged 29, punch the double-glazing before leaving with a bloodied fist.
When Eccleston called her again, she recorded him saying, “How much do you want me to f*** you up?” before she hung up.
Over the next two hours she received over 50 missed calls from a withheld number, Ms Pritchard said.
The court heard the couple had been separated for several years after a "good-bad" relationship, which was marred by his abuse of alcohol and cocaine.
Eccleston’s victim said: “He doesn't leave me alone and I find it easier to get back with him.”
“She doesn't want a restraining order as he has left her alone and appears to have left the area,” Ms Pritchard added.
She said the defendant has a number of previous convictions, including criminal damage, but nothing since September 2019 for threatening unlawful violence.
Eccleston, who represented himself, told magistrates: “I would like to apologise for all the distress I have caused. I just lost my head due to drinking.
"It's not how I define myself. I hate the fact I am in this courtroom right now.”
The warehouse worker, who is currently signed off sick, confirmed the relationship is over and he has stopped drinking heavily.
Eccleston, now care of Stepnell Heights, Boughton, admitted criminal damage and harassment without violence when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
He received an 18-month community order with a 31 rehabilitation days and a 30-day alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement. He must pay £239 in fines and costs.