Machete man gets restraining order

Kirk Ramsey let himself into his ex-girlfriend's flat in Plym Close, Wednesfield, before attacking her in the bedroom in January last year, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Miss Debbie Gould, prosecuting, said the 28-year-old, of Penn, threatened to kill her, grabbed her hair, threw her to the floor and tried to strangle her.

She said he had made a variety of threats and she repeatedly asked him to leave.

His victim suffered scratches and bruises to her body and was said to be shocked and scared.

Miss Gould said she also received a text message in March last year from Ramsey, who had accused her of having a relationship with another man.

It led to the pair meeting and Ramsey holding a machete knife to her neck, the court heard.

Miss Gould said she suffered a cut to her left wrist.

The victim said each ordeal had lasted around 40 minutes.

Ramsey, of Warstones Road, Penn, admitted two counts of common assault and one of possessing a bladed article in a public place.

Miss Gould said Ramsey had accepted arguing in March but denied making any threats and pointing a knife at her.

Mr Jon Roe, mitigating, said: "He is a young man who has regularly in the past self-harmed and clearly struggles to deal with emotional problems in a proper and healthy way."

Judge Martin Walsh said he had also been sentenced to a nine month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in 2013 for drugs offences and was at risk of this being activated.

He said the charges of this kind passed the custody threshold but he would be prepared to suspended the prison term handed to Ramsey.

For the offence involving the knife, Ramsey was handed a 12 month suspended prison sentence.

He was given a three month suspended jail term for each of the assault charges, with all sentences running consecutively to each other.

In total, Ramsey was handed an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years, and was also given a two-year supervision order.

The judge made a restraining order forbidding him from contacting his former partner for a period of three years and ordered him to pay £100 victim surcharge.

Handing Ramsey the restraining order, Judge Walsh told him: "If you breach that order you will go to prison."