Man jailed for threat to cut throat of girlfriend Drunk yob spent party abusing partner and threatening her family
ADRUNKEN lout threatened to kill his partner and her family at a 60th birthday party then repeated the vile “promise” in front of the police.
Neil Conlan, 45, began verbally abusing his victim shortly after arriving at the event on June 5 on Downside in Hough Green, Widnes, and continued to disgrace himself throughout the night and after his arrest.
Chris Taylor, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, told how Conlan had begun shouting at his victim in the garden of the house, subjecting her to a tirade of misogynistic slurs.
He also threatened the woman – with whom he’d been in an on-off relationship for eight years that she described as “s**t” - telling her “I’m going to kill you”.
She fled inside but he caught up with her on the stairs and “made a movement with his arms as though to hit” her so she “slapped him in selfdefence”.
The party host said Conlan, of Ty Croes, Anglesey, had always been “extremely controlling”, never let his victim out of his sight and would cause arguments.
She added Conlan had been “drinking heavily, greedily” that night, and had been following his victim around making accusations, and she told him: “I’m sick of this, why don’t you just die?”
By 12.30am, June 6, the rowdy guest from hell was falling over people in a tent and was told to get out.
He was put to bed but stormed downstairs shouting “I’m going to kill you” at his victim and looked as though he was about to hit her.
Another witness heard him say: “I’m going to knife you, I’m going to kill you.”
He was also seen pretending to stroke his victim’s hair but actually pulling it and pinching her.
Other guests ejected him from the house, but Conlan wasn’t finished.
Mr Taylor said: “He carried on shouting through the letterbox ‘I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill all of your family’.
“He was trying to get in, kicking the front door.”
Police arrived at 2am. Conlan told them: “I will cut her throat. That’s not a threat; that’s a promise.”
He then made further threats. Bodycam footage played to the court featured clear audio of Conlan clearing his throat and asking to be allowed to spit on the ground, then telling officers he had been “getting smashed all night”.
Conlan added: “Good job I’m sensible. It’s allegations, allegations.
“Exactly, I’ll be back to Anglesey tomorrow, and when I get back her family are getting it. That’s not threats. Why am I getting lifted for nothing?”
At Runcorn Custody Suite the suspect was verbally “abusive”, calling officers a “dog” and a “slag” and spitting on the floor.
He then put his head on the desk and wouldn’t engage.
Mr Taylor read a victim impact statement to the court in which Conlan’s former partner described how her abuser had threatened to turn her friends and family against her or “cause a lot of trouble” if she left him.
She also spoke of the long-term “stress” inflicted and how she had moved in with other family members because of the impact of her ordeal.
Conlan had nine convictions from 13 offences dating back to 1996 including a threat to kill, harassment, assault occasioning bodily harm, and sexual assault from an incident in which Conlan had punched a woman in the face and threatened to commit rape – when police arrived they found a woman crying and bloodied.
In relation to the incident at the party in Widnes in June, Conlan pleaded guilty to threats to kill, and to criminal damage for spitting on the custody suite floor, on the day of trial.
Kyra Badman, defending, argued mitigation for Conlan’s guilty pleas on the day of trial, noting her client had “limited recollection” of his behaviour at the party because he was “deeply intoxicated” and hadn’t had the benefit of seeing the police footage until the day of trial, although she acknowledged drunkenness was an aggravating feature.
She said Conlan, who appeared via videolink, disputed that it had been a bad relationship, and instead called it “relatively positive”.
Judge Garrett Byrne sentenced Conlan to three years and seven months in prison for the threats to kill with one-month concurrent for spitting on the custody suite floor.
He imposed an indefinite restraining order and ordered a victim surcharge and collection.
Summing up, Judge Byrne said: “It’s said you thought the relationship was positive. It could have been nothing but the opposite of that. It seemed to be abusive and controlling.
““You felt it acceptable to verbally abuse her and shout ‘I’m going to kill you, I’m going to f ****** stab you, I’m going to kill all your family, I’m going to knife you’.”