By Man relentlessly pursues ex-partner with threats of violence
A man hounded his ex-girlfriend obsessively with hundreds of calls and texts that threatened the lives of her and her new partner if they did not give him money.
Scott Keightley was asked to vacate his former partner’s property on May 23, 2022, in Grimsby, after she chose to end the relationship.
After this, Mr. Keightley proceeded to bombard the victim with a total of 108 WhatsApp messages, and 31 text messages and attempted to call the victim, who was pregnant, a total of 55 times.
The messages involved threats and promises of violence, with one of the messages saying: “Your fella’s f***ing dead this time, pal.
“Keep getting nasty and I’ll take your door off and cut him up in front of you.”
Keightley has seen previous convictions for 17 offences.
Mr. Keightley was also on a 24-month suspended sentence for a previous offence, Grimsby Crown Court heard how he admitted sending the texts and calls at the “earliest opportunity”.
Prosecuting, Stuart Bell said to the court: “The defendant and victim were in a brief on and off the relationship. He was staying at her property because he had nowhere else to go. The victim was out of the house and she text him to ask him to leave the property.”
Keightley continued to contact the victim after moving out with threats regarding payment, he was arrested on May 26, 2022, after the victim notified police.
Tim Savage, mitigating, told the court: “He has not learned his lesson but he has made some progress. Rather than resorting to violence as he has done in the past, he has resorted to words.”
Sentencing Keightley, Judge Mark Bury said: “You are a problem. These previous offences have been significantly domestic-related. You were given a suspended sentence of two years. There were arguments and abusive messages being sent where you threatened to kill the complainant.
“She had every right to ask you to leave as it was her place and you did leave, in fairness, but then after two days, you sent particularly unpleasant messages. You called them both c***s in these messages. [The victim] was particularly vulnerable at that time because she was pregnant.
“There is no alternative but to send you to custody.” Keightley was sentenced to 17 months imprisonment and was handed a five-year restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim.
(Image: Humberside Police)
