A DARLINGTON man feared for his life after his former girlfriend threatened to knife him in the back when he dumped her, a court heard.

The victim began a relationship with 23-year-old Susan Ayrey of Lindholme Gardens, Allerton, Bradford, after she contacted him on Facebook while she was in a bail hostel awaiting sentence for stabbing her mother with a kitchen knife.

Bradford Crown Court heard the couple had been friends in the past but lost touch for five years.

Prosecutor Ken Green said: “He decided to stick with Miss Ayrey, saying she had never shown any aggression towards him.”

But in December, the man ended the relationship, saying they lived too far apart.

“She was angry and abusive but seemed to calm down when he said they could still be friends,” he said.

On January 19 at 11pm, he received a text message from Ayrey, whose number he had deleted from his phone.

She said it was “Susie” and when he told her to leave him alone, she replied: “Ha. Guess wot. I am moving Bk to Darlo Wednesday w***** so watch ya Bk.”

When he pretended he had moved away, Ayrey texted in reply: “Yep, so watch ur BK B4 I stamp all ova ur head t*****.”

The victim, by now seriously alarmed, threatened to tell the police, to which Ayrey responded: “Ha. Don’t think so, watch ur BK B4 u get something stuck in it like a knife and u no I will do it. I have done it before. Not so cleaver (Sic) now R Ya.”

Mr Green said he was very frightened.

“He lived alone. He knew what she was capable of and he felt he had to be constantly looking over his shoulder for fear of what might happen to him,” he said.

The “sinister” messages were sent only weeks after a judge sentenced her to two years' imprisonment, suspended for two years, for wounding her mother with intent to do her grievous bodily harm.

Ayrey pleaded guilty to harassment and a Bail Act offence for failing to attend an earlier court hearing.

Her barrister, Sheila Whitehead, said she was deeply sorry for the trauma she had caused the man.

She was vulnerable and supported in the community by the probation service supervision that formed part of the suspended sentence.

Judge John Potter said the victim was scared and frightened by the “sinister” text message that made specific reference to the stabbing of Ayrey’s mother.

“Effectively, you used that previous offending as a threat to another person close to you,” he said.

He revoked the suspended sentence order and jailed Ayrey for 19 months, with a month consecutive for the harassment offence.

Judge Potter made a restraining order without limit of time banning Ayrey from contacting the man.