Judge tells Fylde coast man, 25, to expect jail term for threatening to rape woman on social media
“To be frank you should expect a sentence of imprisonment because we have been down this road before.”
A Preesall man has been warned he is facing a jail term for threatening to rape a woman on social media.
Daniel Ainsworth should have been sentenced in Preston this week after pleading guilty to a single charge of harassment which breached a restraining order. But a judge decided the court needed more information about his background before passing sentence.
He will now go before Burnley Crown Court on October 14 with a warning that prison is the most likely outcome.
Recorder Mark Ainsworth ruled he was not in a position to sentence him without a full up-to-date report from the probation service. The 25-year-old, of Hampson Grove, Preesall appeared in Lancaster Magistrates Court on July 27 when he admitted sending a message via social media in which he threatened to rape the woman.
The offence was a breach of a restraining order imposed in June last year barring him from making any contact with his victim. Barrister Daniel Dewhurst, defending, said his client was keen to have the sentencing hearing adjourned for the completion of the report even though it meant he would serve another five weeks behind bars on remand.
“Much has changed in his personal life,” he told Recorder Ainsworth. “He understands the position he is in even though he will spend a short time more in custody.”
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Kira Unsworth, for the prosecution, said this was his third breach of the restraining order. The victim in the case was in court expecting to hear him sentenced. Adjourning the hearing until October 14, Recorder Ainsworth told the defendant: “To be frank you should expect a sentence of imprisonment because we have been down this road before.
“That is the likely outcome of this hearing. There may be other information that probation should be aware of in assisting you and the risk you present. I am going to adjourn until October 14. On that morning you will appear before Crown Court at Burnley and before a different judge. They will have available to them more information than I have today.
“But you should expect imprisonment is the most likely outcome. Until then you will be remanded in custody.”
Turning to members of the public in court, including the victim, he said: “I apologise to those attending court today in this case. Court has to follow a process. It’s regrettable we are not able to proceed today.”