Vile Leeds son threatened to 'send lads' to attack his mother over money row

Nathan Robinson sent her sickening messages and voicemails and tried to kick down her door after she refused to give him cash.

The 25-year-old admitted a charge of harassment with a fear of violence at Leeds Crown Court this week.

In a victim impact statement from his mother, read out by prosecutor Daisy Wrigley, she said: “I love my son dearly, but he has to learn to grow up. I want him to learn that life is not so simple. I want a restraining order and want him to go to counselling. I also want him to do voluntary work even if it’s just a couple of days a week.”

The court heard that at around 1pm on April 4, Robinson had phoned his mother and began making demands for £130. She refused but he said she owed him, so she ended the call.

But he continued to ring her and even threatened to kill himself unless she paid up. He sent her messages and said he would “get lads to go to her house”. He sent the photo of the knife and said he would “slash your throats open”. He then sent messages asking where the police were because he was waiting for them.

She blocked his number, but he went to her home on Ramshead Drive in Seacroft at 10pm wanting a drink and a cigarette. He left but came back half-an-hour later and refused him entry again. He began kicking the door, then kicked her car.

Robinson, of Coldcotes Close, Gipton, was arrested and interviewed two days later, accepting that he made the threats and said he intended to go through with them, claiming he had “spoken to some lads to go to her house and give her a slap only”. He has 11 previous convictions for 20 offences, including harassment, and was on a suspended sentence at the time.

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A probation report suggested Robinson needed help and was vulnerable, but no further mitigation was offered after Judge Christopher Batty said he would not send him into custody, saying he would not receive the help he needed.

He told Robinson: “I’m going to take a chance on you. You put her through this deliberately. You used words that would upset her as much as you could and to frighten her.”

He gave him 20 weeks’ jail, suspended for 18 months, and a 120-day electronically-tagged alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement. He was also given a 12-month restraining order.