A stalker called his ex an average of 325 times a day during a campaign of threats and harassment against her.
Gerald Cole told the woman he would throw acid in her face and burn her house down over the course of weeks of abuse as he called her from inside prison. The 24 year old, who started bombarding his victim with calls after being convicted of assaulting her, was silent today as he was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court.
A judge told him he was convinced he had no remorse and showed no acceptance of the trauma he had inflicted on the “emotionally unstable and vulnerable” woman.
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Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said Cole and the young woman, who the court heard had a number of mental health issues, had been in a relationship but said it had ended earlier this year. She kicked Cole out of her flat but he returned there on January 5 and managed to get in before assaulting her.
Mr Hussey said: “The defendant, while she was upstairs in her bedroom, got into her house and assaulted her, grabbing her around the neck and squeezing. She managed to struggle free and as a result of a call to the police the defendant was arrested later that day.”
He was jailed for 16 weeks after admitting assault. However, while he was serving that sentence at HMP Altcourse the woman began to receive calls from him.
They began on April 5 and continued until April 26, just before Cole was released. Over that period, the woman received 7,160 calls, an average of 325 a day. Mr Hussey said they would vary in nature, with some never being answered and some lasting only a few seconds.
The court heard Cole would remain silent often but at other times would threaten various forms of violence against the woman. Mr Hussey said this included threats that he would throw acid in her face upon his release or that he would get associates to attack her.
He said body worn footage from a police visit to the woman’s house showed the impact his actions had on her. He said: “It is quite evident from the recordings I have seen that during one of those calls one could see the tension in her when seeing it was the defendant who was calling.”
Mr Hussey said the woman, who was described as being in a vulnerable emotional state, did herself return Cole’s calls on numerous occasions but said it was clear his actions amounted to stalking and did significant harm to her.
Cole was arrested on May 3, just days after his release from prison, and taken back into custody. He initially denied stalking and was set to face trial before a jury at Liverpool Crown Court. However, he changed his plea to guilty shortly before it was due to start and was sentenced this afternoon.
Brendan Carville, defending, asked the judge to take into account Cole’s eventual guilty plea, which meant the woman did not have to give evidence in court. However, he conceded a pre-sentence report conducted by the probation service was damning for his client.
That report, summarised by Judge David Aubrey QC, concluded Cole has no prospect of rehabilitation, shows no remorse, has no insight into his behaviour and denies parts of his victim’s account. Judge Aubrey said Cole’s actions, which led to the victim leaving the area she grew up in, were a grim example of the impact of stalking and said the sheer volume of calls to her phone was largely to blame.
He said: “You bombarded your victim, who was emotionally unstable and - in the court’s judgement - vulnerable, with numerous phone calls. It may well have been that on numerous occasions there was no contact with your victim. It may well have been that on numerous occasions the phone calls lasted seconds.
"It may well have been that on numerous occasions there was nothing said by you when the calls were answered - but it is true that on numerous occasions there were threats that you would burn her house down or throw acid at her.”
Cole was jailed for 16 months and a restraining order prevents him from contacting the victim.
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