A man has been jailed for threatening to kill his former partner.

Paul Turner sent the woman a "with sympathy" card saying if she did not phone him she would die.

Turner, 41, also phoned police and told them he had a shotgun and was going to kill his former partner, Kelly Bruce, Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Friday.

Armed police escorted Miss Bruce from her Clacton home, and the court heard how she still has nightmares over the incident in January.

Turner, of Edith Road, Clacton, was jailed for two and half years after admitting five threats to kill charges.

The court heard Miss Bruce ended a relationship with him in November but he continued to phone her in a bid to get back together again.

Then, on January 15, he put the sympathy card through her door telling her it would be "bang bang" if she did not contact him.

She took the threat seriously, as did police, and armed officers escorted her from her home.

Later the same day and the following day, Turner called Clacton police station at least three times and said he had a shotgun and was going to kill Miss Bruce.

He also claimed to have paid a hitman £1,000 to kill her, and warned police to stay away as he would kill them and "blow himself away", the court heard.

Police tracked him down to a hotel in Great Yarmouth where he was arrested.

Peter Fenn, mitigating, said Turner had suffered from rejection for much of his life. He thought Miss Bruce was seeing someone else and when she ended the relationship he became depressed.

He remembered little about the threats, as Mr Fenn said a combination of long working hours and rejection resulted in Turner having some sort of breakdown

Published Monday, June 2, 2003

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