Telford father-to-be, 20, jailed for Facebook threats
A father-to-be sent a series of threatening messages via Facebook to a stranger whom he claimed sent requests for images to his pregnant wife.
Thomas Greenwood was yesterday recalled to prison for four-and-a-half months after he admitted an offence of harassment.
His victim William Goulding was subjected to a barrage of messages via social media networks including Facebook and WhatsApp between January 15 and 21.
But Telford Magistrates Court also heard that Mr Goulding had sent messages to Greenwood's pregnant wife, which had been reported to the police.
Mr Adam Warner, prosecuting, told the court: "Mr Goulding has no idea of who he is, which makes the nature of these extremely abusive messages all the more surprising.
"The only possible connection is that the complainant's girlfriend has a vague connection to the defendant's wife."
Mr Warner said: "There are a large number of excerpts taken from Facebook, WhatsApp and various other social media outlets. The police at first treated it as a threats to kill prosecution, but it has come to court as an harassment matter.
"On January 16, Mr Goulding received a message from a man called Declan Tranter which is an alias used by Greenwood calling him a 'scumbag' and offering violence.
"This was very worrying to the victim, but he didn't want to make a complaint because he thought it would make matters worse. He deactivated his Facebook account. He received a mobile call and 12 minutes later a text message saying, 'I know where you live'. At that point he went to the police."
Mr Warner said Greenwood also sent messages threatening to send men to the victim's home.
"Mr Goulding told the police that he thought the threats were genuine, that he was worried for his safety, that he shared a home with his grandparents and that someone may turn up to his place of work," he said.
Greenwood, 20, of Meadow Lea in Madeley, Telford, has a string of previous convictions and was recently released from prison.
Miss Jenny Hancox, for Greenwood, said: "The offence came to fruition because Mr Goulding had been messaging my client's wife. He had been asking for pictures and sexually harassing her. This has since been reported to the police.
"My client accepts that he lost his cool. He has no convictions for similar offences."
Greenwood was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison. He was given an indefinite restraining order not to contact the victim in any way. He was also ordered to pay £115 victim surcharge.
