'I hope you get cancer': Vile thug jailed for "rampage of abuse" at ex partner and daughter

A thug who made threats to his child and his ex partner and directed vile comments towards them has been locked up.
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Gareth Richardson went on a "rampage of abuse" after a littler of puppies he was raising was taken from him by his former partner.

He was planning to sell the dogs to pay off drug debts he amassed from being addicted to crack cocaine, Leeds Crown Court was told by prosecutor Tom Jackson.

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Gareth Richardson was sentenced to 27 months.Gareth Richardson was sentenced to 27 months.
Gareth Richardson was sentenced to 27 months.
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But his former partner felt he was mistreating the dogs so removed the litter, prompting days of spiteful and menacing messages.

The 39-year-old initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of threatening violence and an animal cruelty charge.

He eventually changed his plea for the threats, but not to the cruelty offence, which the Crown accepted but asked for it to be left on file.

The threats began on January 27 when he realised his dogs were missing, telling his ex that he was going to send a gang from Bradford to her house.

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He said: "I'm going to get someone to crack you, someone to smash your face in, you need a good hiding."

He later added: "You are going to get your head smashed in by me or someone else, I don't give a f*** about going to jail."

He then referred to the woman having to have undergo treatment last year to have cancerous cells removed, adding: "You are going to get cancer because your are horrible. You will be dead by the time you are 40 and I can't wait."

He also made horrific comments to his teenage daughter.

Richardson, formerly of March Street, Normanton, was arrested and he repeatedly told officer he sent the messages, but then refused to come out of his cell and be interviewed.

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The court hard that his ex partner had to be moved to a safe house.

Impact statements read out by both his daughter and ex partner about his actions had affected them.

His ex said: "I have been dealing with this for 18 years. He is a violent and aggressive man. I do not think he even understands or cares about what he has done."

Richardson has 20 convictions for 37 offences, including battery and harassment.

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In mitigation, Anastasis Tasou said: "The messages he sent were quite simply vile.

"He tells me that during lockdown he became seriously and heavily addicted to crack cocaine. It's a terrible drug with terrible consequences.

"Over the time he became addicted he built up a debt of £9,000. That led to various threats being made to him, and threats made to his mother and sister.

"His one potential lifeline was the sale of eight puppies which he says were worth £2,000 each.

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"His intention was to get clean and move away and start a completely new life.

"A lot was dependent on that sale, and he was convinced that it was taken away by his former partner.

"That's the background for sending those horrible and nasty messages."

She said he was now completely drug free during his time spent on remand.

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But a probation report found that he continued to blame his ex her for winding him up, and minimised the distress caused.

Judge Robin Mairs jailed him for 27 months and gave him a five-year restraining order to keep him away from his ex partner and their daughter.

He told him :"You exploded in fury and began messaging and texting over a five-day period, making vile threats.

"It was a rampage of abuse that you subjected them to.

"As appalling as though messages are to your former partner, the abuse you sent to your own daughter defies understanding.

"The effect on both has been huge.

"You neither care nor recognise the harm you are prepared to cause."