VILE threats made by a man towards his Coventry ex-girlfriend included one that he would snatch her pet dog and skin it, among hundreds of other abusive messages.
And a judge heard it was the third time Lee Rowe had waged such a hate campaign against former partners – and he was still subject to a suspended sentence over the last one at the time.
Rowe, 33, of Redstone Farm Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to two charges of harassment, putting his ex-girlfriend and her sister in fear of violence.
He was jailed for 18 months – consecutive to two months of his suspended sentence which he was also ordered to serve.
Prosecutor Rebecca Wade said Rowe’s two latest victims were a woman from Coventry, with whom he had been in a relationship for nine months, and her sister.
She told the court he sent her ‘a catalogue of abusive messages’ – including hundreds of messages and calls, and thousands of emails – for three weeks after the relationship ended on around June 1.
She said: “There were threats to harm her or her family, including her pregnant sister, and to burn their houses down, and that he would kill her dog, Maisie.”
One message, with the expletives omitted, read: “If you don’t message me with the truth, say goodbye to that little mutt. You have five minutes, or I swear she will go.”
Another threatened: “I’m going to get Maisie. I’ll rip her skin off her back. I’ll rip your head off.”
Rowe sent messages to her father saying she had been in a car crash, and threatened to send others to her nan, as well as sending his ex a stream of offensive, abusive messages.
When she still failed to get in touch with him, he turned his attention to her sister, threatening to burn her house down and making extremely upsetting comment about her son, who had died.
Rowe also threatened to petrol-bomb the family’s cars and called the police to report his ex as a missing person.
And the victim said in a statement she was so traumatised by his relentless campaign that she contemplated suicide, even going so far as to write a note because he would not leave her alone.
Miss Wade added that Rowe had four previous convictions for harassment in relation to two partners, and was subject to a four-month suspended sentence for the latest of those at the time.
Judge Peter Cooke observed: “So (Rowe’s victim) is the third ex-partner he’s made threats towards.”
Sharon Bailey, defending, said: “There had been some indication from (Rowe’s ex) to the police to say she does not want to co-operate, and she has contacted my solicitors saying the same thing.”
Miss Bailey pointed out: “All the communication has been via messages and phone calls. There has been no attempt at direct contact or going to the address.”
She said Rowe had ‘tried very hard’ to do what was asked of him on courses he attended as part of the suspended sentence, and may have a personality disorder which needs treatment.
But the judge commented: “This is an escalation of a form of behaviour he has carried out before. It is a spectacular failure to learn from all the courses he’s been on.
“Whatever it is that makes him behave in this shocking way when a partner ends a relationship needs to be addressed, whether that is some character disorder or simply a failure of self-control remains to be seen.”
Jailing Rowe, Judge Cooke told him: “You have for a third time responded to the break-up of a relationship with a catalogue of vile abuse, not only to the person you believed had spurned you, but also to her family.
“The depths to which you would sink, saying you would skin her dog, and that you would have her pregnant sister’s home burned down, really, you could not have sunk much lower.
“You wanted her to suffer, and you wanted her family to suffer. You wanted to hurt and humiliate and to scare.”
