Jealous Leeds ex bombarded woman with messages on WhatsApp, chillingly telling her he would 'bide his time'
A jealous ex has been jailed after he made chilling revenge comments to her, warning that he would “bide his time”.
Scott Hutchinson was already on a suspended sentence and given a restraining order after strangling his ex in 2023.
But the 43-year-old drug addict flew into a rage last year when the woman posted a picture of herself with her new partner on Facebook.
In the early hours of July 16 she received a WhatsApp message from Hutchinson with a screenshot of the picture on Facebook.
He called her a “tramp” and said he was “going to have words”, prosecutor Emily Jenkins told Leeds Crown Court.
He then commented on her Facebook post, saying she was gong to “get it” and that he was going to confront her new partner.
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He also tried to call her several times.
With the woman becoming increasingly concerned, Hutchinson chillingly told her was going to “bide his time” and said he “promised” that she was “going to go down”.
Hutchinson, of Clifton Grove, Harehills, was arrested on August 8 but gave no comments during his police interview.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had been left unable to sleep and added: “All day I have been looking over my shoulder.
“I’m really scared of him turning up. I’m really worried about what frame of mind he would be in.”
Hutchinson admitted breach of his restraining order. He has 10 previous convictions for 14 offences.
A probation report read to the court said that Hutchinson had “felt taunted” by the woman posting her new boyfriend on Facebook and accepted making contact.
He has a 20-year heroin habit but was now on a methadone programme.
Mitigating, Vincent Blake-Barnard said: “He lays the blame completely on his own shoulders.
“He is deeply sorry and deeply ashamed about some of the childishness and pettiness in some of the statements he made.”
His described his actions as “a day of madness”.
Judge Kate Rayfield told Hutchinson it had to be jail, telling him: “Some of those messages were simply unpleasant and some were deeply unpleasant.
“She was petrified enough to call the police.
“I have no choice but to send you to custody. What would the public think if I ignored it?
“Court orders are not optional, they are mandatory.”
She jailed him for four months for the restraining-order and activated two months of his 15-month suspended sentence, making a total of six months.