A man who threatened to cut the throat of his ex-partner and her two children has been rendered homeless as a result of his actions, a court has heard.
Glenn Black, with an address in Belfast, pleaded guilty to three counts of threats to kill; improper use of public electronic communications; assault on police; criminal damage; and harassment, at Armagh Magistrates’ Court.
Outlining the facts to the court, a prosecution solicitor explained that on Wednesday, September 8, at around 12.30am, the 35-year-old phoned police stating he was going to kill someone if police were not sent out to him.
He gave his location as Linen Court Hostel in the city.
Police arrived shortly after and spoke to the defendant, who told officers to put him in the back of the car.
The prosecution added that Black became aggressive towards police before he was handcuffed, but in the process he attempted to headbutt and kick one constable in the head – narrowly missing.
He was arrested and at this time officers were made aware of another incident involving the defendant and his ex-partner.
His ex had called police and stated the defendant had left her a voicemail saying he would cut her throat, as well as her two sons’ throats.
She also reported receiving multiple harassing and threatening calls from Black, which she said was a continuation of behaviour from the previous day, when he made numerous abusive calls and left multiple voicemails.
The prosecution stated that these actions caused her “a lot of stress and fear believing if she was close by he would carry out the threats”.
Black was then taken to custody but began spitting in the vehicle. When he was told to stop, he stated he would do anything to stay the night.
Black’s defence solicitor described the episode as “a complete psychological meltdown”.
“He was residing in hostel accommodation when he himself phoned police,” he explained to the court. “He clearly was struggling to cope at that point in time. He has now spent three weeks in custody, somewhere he has never been before in his life.
“Unfortunately he will go back into the system and then he will have to present himself to the Housing Executive as a homeless person.”
The solicitor further described the mental health situation in Northern Ireland “for people like this gentleman is unfortunately shockingly poor”.
“This is a situation where a man phones the police himself opining his own concerns for his mental health.”
He added: “Contact has been made with various hostels who have effectively refused to take him because he has blotted his copybook; another example of how the system is failing when you have some young tragic and troubled people who have nowhere to live.”
District Judge Bernie Kelly said she “had no option” but to hand him a one month prison sentence for each of the offences, to run concurrently, and issued Black with a restraining order, preventing him from speaking to the injured party.
