Man who threatened to stab his ex-partner is locked up

Police found Michael Hunter, 36, carrying kitchen knives in his bicycle pannier, said Thomas Cowan, prosecuting.

Hunter had told the woman: “I will get your head kicked in” and “I am going to stab you and your bloke”.

He had been banned from contacting the woman by a court order after he was convicted of harassing her six months earlier. But he phoned and texted her, went to her home and that of her sister.

The former partner told police later: “I am scared of Michael and what he is capable of.”

Hunter, of Cotswold Way, Huntington, pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a restraining order and one of carrying knives in public.

York magistrates gave him a 12-month prison sentence.

It was the second time he had been sent to prison for his behaviour towards his ex-partner. He had been jailed for eight weeks in February for harassment.

He was also ordered to pay a £128 statutory surcharge. The restraining order remains.

Defence solicitor Richard Minion said Hunter had never been violent towards his partner and had never made any attempt to carry out the threats.

He had been drinking before he made them.

He had had the knives as part of his kit for a camping trip he had just finished.

He had unloaded his mattress and other camping items at his mother’s, but had forgotten to unload the knives.

Mr Cowan said on July 17, the woman got a number of text messages and a missed call from a number she didn’t know. She rang back and recognised Hunter’s voice on the other end.

On August 28, Hunter again used a number she didn’t know to try and contact her. When she answered a call, he was abusive towards her.

He made the threats about getting her head kicked in and stabbing her and “her bloke”.

Mr Minion said when things went wrong, Hunter started drinking.

He had made the phone calls and texts at a time when he had been having personal issues.

Mr Minion said there had been no problems between the two since August 28.