JARROW MAN WHO THREATENED WOMAN OVER POLICE REPORT JAILED
A man who threatened his partner after she told police he had attacked her has been jailed for eight months.Nigel Blackburn, 42, was high on drugs and alcohol when he sent voice notes in May telling the woman not to be a "grass", Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Blackburn, from Jarrow, South Tyneside, whose previous convictions included harassment of another ex-partner, admitted intimidating a witness.
He was also accused of assaulting the woman - who at the time had feared she had breast cancer - but the charge was dropped after she retracted her earlier statement.
Blackburn, of Castleton Road, first started a relationship with the woman 26 years ago and they had been together again for several months leading up to May this year.
On 28 May, at a time when it was feared the woman had breast cancer, Blackburn straddled her as she slept and repeatedly punched her in the head.
Three days later, while she was speaking to police about the attack, Blackburn sent her voice messages saying she was a "grass" and if he went to prison he would "come out and do worse." His victim retracted her statements to officers due to a deterioration in her mental health.
The intimidation offense also breached a community order for harassing another woman he had seen for 15 years.
The court heard that Blackburn had taken cocaine and alcohol at the time.
Judge Tim Gittins stated Blackburn's threats "implied serious violence" and he should have been "seeking to look after" the woman, who was thought to potentially have a serious illness at the time.
