Man jailed over partner ‘death threat’
AMAN subjected his partner to a torrent of lurid threats before jumping on a bus to the village where she lived armed with a knife.
Jasper Knox had repeatedly told the woman he was going to kill her after she said she wanted to end their relationship.
Police went looking for the 26-yearold after the threats were reported, and found him at a bus station boarding a service to the area where the woman lived.
Knox had only been out of prison for a matter of months when the incident happened, having been jailed in 2017 for a robbery when he used a former partner as a “honey trap” to lure a passer-by to a quiet street in Swansea city centre with the promise of sexual favours before attacking him.
Swansea Crown Court heard that in February this year Knox’s current partner sent him a text message saying their relationship was over.
Ieuan Rees, prosecuting, said the defendant responded with a phone call running to more than 30 minutes during which he repeatedly threatened to stab the woman, kill her stepdad and “smash up” her house.
Knox told the woman “I have a blade on me with your name on it” and “I am coming for you”. After she hung up she received another 37 calls to her mobile from a withheld number which she did not answer.
The court heard the woman reported the matter to police, as she was concerned that Knox would carry out the threats.
Mr Rees said police went looking for Knox and found him at Ammanford bus station.
The court heard that when Knox saw the officers he “leaned down in the seat” and watching police officers formed the opinion that he was trying to find something. When they searched around the seat they found a knife.
In his subsequent interview Knox admitted the earlier phone conversation between the couple had “got heated”.
Knox, of Hanover Street, Mount Pleasant, Swansea, admitted sending threatening communications, and the possession of a knife.
The court heard he has 36 previous offences on his record, including possession of a knife when he was just 13, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and two counts of robbery.
The second conviction for robbery, from 2017, had seen him and his then partner using the offer of sex to lure a pensioner to a quiet spot near Swansea’s High Street railway station.
As the female accomplice distracted their 72-year-old victim, Knox knocked him to the ground, kicked him to the face and stole his wallet.
For that offence Knox was sentenced to 52 months in prison.
He was released in November of last year, having served some 28 months. The court heard he has now been recalled back to prison to serve the remainder of the robbery sentence, and is not due to be released until January 2022.
James Hartson, for Knox, said the defendant’s frustration and anger had “boiled over” when he received the text telling him the relationship with his new partner was over.
Knox was sentenced to a total of six months in prison and was made the subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting his ex-girlfriend for an indefinite period.