Mansfield man threatened to kill both his girlfriend's neighbours

Simon Anthony Sharpe, 29, of Shelley Avenue, Mansfield Woodhouse, admitted two counts of using threatening and abusive words with the intent to cause fear, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Neil Fawcett, prosecuting, said Sharpe tried to gain access to a female neighbour’s house on Charles Street in Mansfield Woodhouse on Sunday May 29 at 9.30pm.

He said: “She heard him making threats - ‘I am going to go and kill her.’

“She heard this through the walls. Moments later he was trying the front door handle and shouting more threats.”

The police arrived ten minutes later but Sharpe had already left the address.

On June 6, the same woman described overhearing Sharpe making threats in the back garden.

“I am going to smash your f***ing head in. I am going to petrol bomb your house.”

She believed that the threats were directed towards her and she was fearful he would carry them out, said Mr Fawcett.

The court heard that Sharpe’s other victim, a former marine who saw front line service and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, does not live at the address but visits his daughters there.

He reported that Sharpe was shouting and bellowing: “‘If the police come to my house I will petrol bomb them.

“‘I will f***ing kill you, I will f***ing kill your woman, I will f***ing kill your kids.

“‘I will burn your f***ing house down.’”

The victim said he felt distraught, said Mr Fawcett.

“He told police he didn’t put his country first to have his family threatened.”

Sharpe appeared via video link from HMP Nottingham as he had been recalled in relation to his last conviction for robbery and is not due to be released until October 12 2016.

Morgan Hogarth, mitigating, said: “The neighbour-dispute has not been completely one-sided.”

He said Sharpe’s partner had since been evicted from the house.

The court heard the pair had been the subject of numerous complaints to police and social services.

“That is why he got so upset,” said Mr Hogarth. “He felt that underhand methods had been used to escalate matters.

“He accepts by his guilty plea that his conduct is not all that it should be.

“He can’t exactly recall the words that were made or were alleged to have been made.”

He said that Sharpe had been engaging with the probation service with a view to setting up his own business.

Magistrates described the offences as serious and sentenced him to 16 weeks in prison, to be added to his existing sentence.

He was ordered to pay court costs and a victim surcharge of £115, which will be added to the £495 he owes the court in outstanding fines.