A Monkton man who made threatening messages on Instagram telling the boyfriend of his ex-partner that he would be taken out of his house in a ‘body bag’ has appeared in court.
Twenty-three-year-old Joshua William James Webb, of Colley Court, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday, to plead guilty to a charge of sending an Instagram message which conveyed a threat for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety to the recipient.
Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told the court that the complainant in the case received the threatening messages on July 24 as part of an exchange of messages on Instagram where Mr. Webb was trying to arrange to see his son.
“The messages became increasingly threatening and unpleasant to the partner of Mr. Webb’s ex, and became a cause for concern,” she explained, listing a number of exchanges which included threats such as ‘you’ll be eating through a straw; my face will be the last thing you see; you’ll be taken out of your house in a body bag; I’ve got friends who could kill you; you’ll have to walk around with eyes in the back of your head’.
Ms Vaughan told the court that Mr. Webb had been previously handed a community order in 2017, along with a restraining order in relation to his ex-partner.
Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that gaining contact with his son had been the issue for Mr. Webb and the outburst had coincided with his ex moving in with her new partner.
“It became more and more difficult for Mr. Webb to see his son - and he became angry after seeing a post on Facebook from the complainant which stated how nice it was that somebody else’s son was now calling him daddy.
“They were empty threats made by Mr. Webb and stupid remarks, but it was a two-way conversation, and other things were said to him that made him angry.
“The line ‘I’ve got friends who would kill you for fun’ is clearly nonsense, clearly upsetting for the complainant, but not so much so that he didn’t contact the police about it for four days.
“My client is extremely sorry for what he said and very regretful,” added Mr. Kelleher.
When handing Mr Webb a 12 month community order, which included a restraining order against his ex and her partner, magistrates told him:
“This was very threatening and very frightening for the victim, you can’t go around doing things like this.”
The order also included a 15 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and 40 hours of unpaid work.
Mr. Webb was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £90 victim surcharge.