A WHITEHAVEN man who made chilling threats to kill during meetings with two mental health workers has been sentenced by a judge.
Tyler John Burns, 21, vowed to violently attack a man he believed had committed a serious crime against someone he knew.
Burns’ threats against the man were made twice in three days during late February after he self-referred amid concerns about his own mental nurse.
Carlisle Crown Court heard he told a psychiatric nurse he wanted to “stamp on his head until I see his brains”, “dismember him”, and “smash his shins with a claw hammer”, saying he was willing to go to prison for 25 years.
In a second meeting two days later, he told another mental health worker he couldn’t get the thought of killing the same man out of his head.
After police were alerted to Burns’ disturbing comments, he was arrested and, during a magistrates’ court appearance, admitted two offences of making a threat to kill.
A man of previous good character, Burns, of Gameriggs Road, Whitehaven, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today (THURS).
Kim Whittlestone, defending, spoke of a man with “genuine mental health issues” who had spent time in custody on remand since his arrest, and who needed support and guidance in the community.
After also considering a probation service pre-sentence report and references, Judge Nicholas Barker imposed an 18-month community order comprising a rehabilitation activity requirement. Judge Barker called Burns’s threats “graphic, startling and troubling”.
