Blackmailer who stabbed ex's face jailed
Northumbria PoliceA man who tormented his ex-partner with "ugly" threats and cut her face with a knife has been jailed for three years and seven months.
Luke Gallagher, 32, carried out a campaign of "terrifying" abuse against the woman and her family in October after she refused his requests to get back together, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
As well as making demands for £10,000 from her, he threatened to kill her dog and new partner and torch her car and father's allotment.
Gallagher, a tanning salon owner from Killingworth, admitted blackmail, assault causing actual bodily harm, putting people in fear of violence and producing cannabis.
The woman began a relationship with Gallagher, of Yates Close, in May last year and it was initially good, with the pair moving in together the following month, the court heard.
But on a holiday in Tenerife in July, he blamed her after he was robbed of jewellery and she was so scared of him she slept locked in a hotel bathroom, prosecutor Joe Hedworth said.
She then discovered he was cheating on her, with Gallagher telling the woman it was her own fault as she no longer made him happy, the court heard.
'Went crazy'
They broke up but in October Gallagher bombarded her with messages and asked if they could get back together.
He called her "every hour day and night" and repeatedly took flowers to her home but she refused to resume their relationship, Mr Hedworth said.
On 26 October he called her again and asked if it was true she had begun a relationship with someone else, the court heard.
When she confirmed it, Gallagher "went crazy" and shouted insults at her, threatened to kill her dog, set her car on fire and "put a bullet" in her new partner, Mr Hedworth said.
Gallagher then told the woman her brother was at his house and he threatened to harm him, prompting her to go round to try and rescue him, the court heard.
When she arrived, Gallagher confronted her with a kitchen knife while also stopping her brother, who was in tears, from leaving the house, Mr Hedworth said.
She attempted to barge past Gallagher to get to her brother but Gallagher grabbed her by throat, pushed her to the floor inside, locked the front door, then grabbed her by the throat again before kicking her in the face.
He then pushed her face on to the blade of the knife causing a cut to her face before she was able to escape, the court heard.
'Capable of killing'
As she fled, Gallagher shouted he would carve his initial on her forehead, ruin her life and make her kill herself, Mr Hedworth said.
Soon after Gallagher called her and told her to give him "10 grand" or he would set her father's allotment on fire and send people to her home to attack her.
He was reported to police and, when officers searched his home, they found 12 cannabis plants growing in a bedroom, the court heard.
In a statement read to the court, the woman said she was "terrified" for the safety of herself and her family and Gallagher, who had previous convictions of serious violence, was a "very dangerous person" who was "capable of killing" her.
Judge Carolyn Scott said Gallagher's offences were "ugly, vicious and nasty", with the threats and demands "extremely unpleasant" and causing "significant psychological harm" to the woman.
"Your behaviour can only be described as terrifying," the judge told Gallagher.
A restraining order banning him from contacting the woman or going within 50m of her for 10 years was also made.