Thug threatened to slice up reporters
ACONVICTED sex offender who bombarded journalists with threats and racial abuse by email and social media has been jailed.
Dylan Mawdsley, formerly of Queen Street, Great Harwood, threatened to ‘slice and dice’ the reporters with a machete when they publicised a police appeal to find him after he had breached his sex offender notification requirements.
The 21-year-old also sent a Tweet to Lancashire Police saying: “Watch. I’m going to slice off [the reporters] head. You p***** ain’t going to do nowt.”
Mawdsley pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to racially aggravated harassment and breaching a restraining order. He was jailed for eight months and 28 days and given a 12-month restraining order.
Stephen Parker, prosecuting, told the court how police officers were looking for Mawdsley in January this year and after an appeal was publicised the defendant contacted two reporters directly over the course of several days.
The court was told that he threatened to ‘slice and dice’ them with a machete and would ‘burn’ and ‘egg’ their offices if they didn’t remove the appeal.
He also told one reporter: “I’m going to stab you and gut you like a pig.
“I’ve seen that picture and that post you put of me. You better watch yourself going to work you clown.”
Police attended Mawdsley’s home on Grange Street in Burnley, where he was issued with a formal warning under the Harassment Act and he told officers he wouldn’t send any more messages.
However the next day he sent more emails to one of the reporters saying: “You think going to the police is going to stop me?
“I’ll be seeing you later. Wait until after work. I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll see you after work. I’m going to wrap a chain around your head.”
When he was arrested again he told police: “I’m going to be going to trial because these idiots, the journalists need to go to court and hear what they’ve done to my life. I’ll be saying no comment after this.”
Mr Parker told the court that when Mawdsley was charged and re-bailed he emailed another reporter saying: “F*** it. Jail’s worth it. You saw the search results bumped up. You grassing b******.”
In a victim impact statement read out at court, one of the reporters said he had ‘ mixed feelings about the whole sad episode’ and felt Mawdsley was a ‘very confused and vulnerable person’.
He said: “More than anything I hope this episode leads to him getting real and lasting help and that he can move on with his life in a positive and happy manner.”
Judge Sara Dodd described the statement as ‘very magnanimous’.