A Carlisle man, who threatened to smash the grave of his ex-girlfriend’s mother and made kill threats in voicemails, has been jailed.
Darren Johnson, now 48, was given a restraining order late in 2022 which banned him from contacting the woman indefinitely.
That was part of a punishment which also included an immediate 12-month jail term which was imposed by a judge who heard he assaulted the woman by grabbing her forearms and throat.
During a terrifying ordeal in which Johnson had arrived at her home looking full of hell, Johnson held a knife to his own neck, spat repeatedly and deliberately in his ex’s face and wrecked her phone with a mallet.
Johnson was back at Carlisle Crown Court today, when he was sentenced having admitted twice flouting the restraining order, and stalking her.
A prosecutor told how he had first turned up at the woman’s home at 4,07am on October 6 last year when he was caught on video as he rang her camera doorbell, flouting the restraining order.
Twelve days later, Johnson turned up at the woman’s Carlisle place of work at 5.55am just before she finished a shift. He appeared to be smelling strongly of drink.
A colleague accompanied the woman to her car after she finished work, and Johnson was prevented from getting in the vehicle.
When the woman returned home, she found she had received two unwanted and deeply offensive voicemails.
Johnson repeatedly stated “you’re dead”. In one message he vowed: “I’m going to smash your mam’s grave up right now. He also warned the woman: “Better be on your guard.”
In an impact statement, the woman spoke of suffering nightmares, flashbacks, being scared to leave her home and expressed a fear that Johnson would terrorise her until the day she died. She described having no trust in men, and added: “It is going to take me a long time to build myself back up.”
Defence solicitor Sean Harkin told the court Johnson was committed to addressing personal issues, and said: “He accepts the relationship is over and through me he expresses remorse for his actions.”
The court heard Johnson, previously of Garden Street, off Botchergate, had 61 previous offences on his criminal record, including other assaults on his former partner.
Passing sentence, Judge Michael Fanning told him: “I am satisfied you intended to maximise fear and distress.”
Imposing an immediate 27-month jail term, the judge concluded: “Your victim needs immediate protection from you.”
Johnson remains subject to a restraining order which bans him from having any contact with the woman.
