A MAN who crept into his ex-wife’s bedroom armed with a knife and made threats to kill himself and harm her has been sentenced by a judge.
Ashley William Tremble, 52, had struggled to cope with the breakdown of his long-term relationship with Michelle Tremble after it ended in February.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how stunned Mrs Tremble woke with shock on the morning of May 5 to find her find her ex-husband standing in her bedroom at the Maryport house they had formerly shared, while their adult daughter slept in a nearby room. He held a large knife to his throat and then produced a length of pre-knotted rope which he put around his neck, vowing to kill himself and saying he had “nothing left to live for”.
Tremble also threatened to harm his ex-wife while pointing the knife at her.
Nobody was hurt and, after Tremble left the house, he was arrested by police who recovered the blade.
“I was terrified,” stated Mrs Tremble of the incident. “It has torn our lives apart.
“I never in a million years thought someone I had spent my life with would react the way he has. My own home no longer feels safe and I don’t feel my life will ever be the same.”
Tremble admitted affray and possession of a bladed article, and was sentenced today (THURS) when a judge heard he’d been in custody since May 5 on remand.
Steven Swift, defending, said Tremble, latterly of Salterbeck Road in Workington, planned to move away from the area to begin a new life, adding: “He bitterly regrets his actions. It was a desperate act but frightening.”
Recorder Michael Hayton QC imposed a 30-month community order but stressed that was not a soft sentencing option. Tremble must complete rehabilitation, a “building better relationships” course, 80 hours’ unpaid work and was banned from contacting his ex-wife for five years, other than through a solicitor.
“You can’t behave like that towards former partners, partners or indeed anyone,” Recorder Hayton told him.
“It was an attempt to frighten and coerce her.”
