A woman who was banned from contacting her ex partner has appeared in court again after threatening to murder him via messages to his dog's Facebook account. Paula Higman, 38, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday for breaching the terms of a suspended sentence handed to her in August 2021.
The defendant, of Sandringham, Sefton Park, breached a non-molestation order by sending threatening messages about killing her former partner, Mark Davies, to a Facebook account in the name of his dog. She also issued threats towards his mother, whom she referred to her as "rough" but said "she will be looking worse soon", the Liverpool Echo reports.
In August 2021, she was hit with the order in the family courts, which prevented her from able to contact Davies for one year. Recorder Tim Harrington ordered Higham to a one-year prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and she was also told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work along with a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
But she continued in a "persistent breach" to send a string of "deeply unpleasant" messages to her ex boyfriend. Only a week after the order was imposed, she sent a total of 13 emails from two different accounts.
Three days later, Higham messaged a Facebook account which had been set up under the name of Mr Davies' dog. One shocking message read: "What's happened to your mum? She's looking very rough. She will be looking worse soon."
Another note said: "Enjoy your weekend. I've posted your name and address over the internet, rapist." The victim also recorded eight phone calls he had received from Higham from a withheld number.
At 2am on another date she accused him of raping her and remarked: "Now you really are f***ed. You just went viral by the way." At around 4.30pm on September 25, 2021, she phoned him and said "the rapist has got nothing to say has he?" before calling him a ""f***ing freak" and saying "I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you".
The court heard that the defendant also failed to attend two unpaid work appointments on November 10 and November 24 last year, which further breached her suspended sentence. Zara Baqri, prosecuting told the court that Higham missed appointments because of her alcohol abuse and when she is there, she is sometimes drunk and behaves aggressively towards staff.
Ms Baqri added: “She presents an increased risk towards staff at this time.” The prosecution explained although Higham has complied to some extent, the probation service does not believe she can manage the order without a support system around her which she currently does not possess.
The defendant has completed 37 out of 100 of her unpaid work hours. The prosecution also noted that the 38-year-old is currently released by police under investigation for assaulting an emergency worker.
Oliver Saddington, defending, said: “She apologises through me for these breaches.” He said an 'unfettered torrent of commentary from anonymous members of the public' posted on online articles regarding Higham resulted in a breakdown and caused her to turn to alcohol.
Mr Saddington also reveled that Higham had been sent death threats from someone she knew when she previously worked as a sex number after her personal phone number had been leaked. He added: “She returned to drinking heavily to reconcile the nastiness and abuse she was receiving.
“Truth be told, she is still feeling scared and suffers with her mental health today. “She has completed 37 hours and she wants to do more, and I beseech your honour to give her a second chance.”
During sentencing, Higham was seen sobbing in court as she asked the judge: “Are you saying I am going to lose my house?” Recorder Eric Lamb said: “You have been presenting in a way in which you were verbally aggressive towards your offender manager, and there have been occasions in which you were sporadic in your engagement with unpaid work. I have concluded that activation of the sentence would not be unjust.”
Recorder lamb activated the suspended sentence of 12 months in prison but reduced it to eight months in light of the elements of the community order Higham had already completed.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
