A thug has been jailed after he accidentally left a voicemail on his probation officer's phone threatening to cut off his partner's head.
During the course of a weekend in May, violent Mark Oliver pulled a clump of his girlfriend's hair out and left her with bruising to her face after assaulting her at her Wallsend home. Officers were called to that incident and the 35-year-old was arrested.
However, on the Monday morning, Oliver's Probation officer returned to work and discovered he'd accidentally left her a voicemail message the day prior. In it, he could be heard shouting that he was going to "get a knife and chop [the victim's] head off", a court heard.
Prosecutors said that Oliver's distressed girlfriend could be heard in the background saying "please" before the lout tells her to "f*** off". A few days later, Oliver targeted a different woman, his ex-partner, by leaving her a voicemail stating she was a "rat" and that her car and van "would go bang".
Oliver went on to leave nine further voicemail messages on his former girlfriend's phone, where he threatened to make her life hell and "get hold" of her new partner. Oliver, who was on licence from jail at the time after serving half of a four-and-a-half-year sentence for attacking his then-girlfriend with a claw hammer, was arrested and recalled to prison.
Now, the thug, of no fixed abode but formerly of Newcastle, has been jailed for 23 months after he pleaded guilty to assault by beating, threats to kill and a malicious communications offence.
Neil Pallister, prosecuting at Newcastle Crown Court, said Oliver's girlfriend first rang 999 just after midnight on May 22 this year to say he was being verbally abusive and was refusing to leave her home. Mr Pallister continued: "She told the call handler she had left the address and was waiting in the garden.
"Police, unfortunately, didn't respond straight away. Thirty four minutes later, she made a further call to the police saying the defendant was in her address shouting and screaming and she was locked outside the in garden.
"An officer attended the address in the early hours at 1.20am and, on arrival, he activated his body-worn camera. He entered the address and the defendant and [the victim] were present in the lounge.
"He asked [the victim] what had happened. She was initially not forthcoming. She went upstairs and the officer followed her and she told the officer the defendant had had pulled a clump of hair from her head and she had bruising to her face but she didn't elaborate further."
The court heard that Oliver, who has 23 offences on his record, including for domestic violence, was arrested and the victim was found to have have a clump of hair missing, as well as bruising to her face and arms. The following day, Oliver's Probation officer discovered the voicemail on her phone.
Not deterred by being arrested, Oliver went on to leave the threatening messages on his former partner's phone after being told their daughter no longer wanted contact with him. He was later also detained for that.
Andrew Walker, defending, said Oliver had been released from prison in May 2022 and had been complying with the Probation Service until his step father died in April this year. Mr Walker added: "Unfortunately, there was a relapse because of all that involving alcohol and drugs. They had been issues in the past."
Locking Oliver up, Mrs Recorder Davies said: "To pull hair out takes some force. This was committed in a domestic context while you were under the influence of alcohol and while you were on licence."
