A CONVICTED domestic abuser who threatened his latest victims from his prison cell has been returned to custody.

Rhys Parker sent a chilling letter from Durham Prison to the 67-year-old woman making death threats to her and her granddaughter on the eve of his release.

The 22-year-old had a history of violence against women after violently attacking three ex-partners, Teesside Crown Court heard.

When he was arrested following his release he repeated the threats to police and when he was told that there were cameras recording him in Middlesbrough Police Station he repeated them again.

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said Parker made the threats after he heard that his latest ex had formed a new relationship.

He yelled at an officer who was leaving his cell 'I'm going to kill her, just watch', she said.

He had previously attacked one ex by biting her face while armed with a knife, and she ended up with a cut hand.

He was in breach of a restraining order not to contact his latest former partner who he had a child with and he wrote to her grandmother threatening to burn down her house.

Miss Haigh said that he wrote 'I'll see you very, very soon' accompanied by a drawing of a cross.

The pensioner told police that when she received it she spent most of the day looking out of the window to make sure that he was nowhere near her house.

She added: "From what I know of Rhys he will be over the moon knowing that I am frightened. I believe that he is a bully and he will thrive over what what he has got over me."

Miss Haigh said that Parker was taken to hospital after a drugs overdose on April 29. When he woke he told a police officer who was watching him: "I'm going to burn her house down whether the kids are there or not."

Stephen Constantine, defending, said that Parker was grieving over his father's death when he heard about the new man in his ex's life and because he was banned from contacting her he reacted by sending the letter to her grandmother.

He added: "He is thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour because he has had time to reflect.

"He recognises that he needs help, and the fact that he has reached out and asked for help is a positive step. He apologises to her grandmother for the distress and upset he has caused her. He knows that others are entitled to get on with their lives and he must get on with his."

Judge Howard Crowson said: "I am afraid it does seem that you have a history for making threats and violence against former partners."

Parker, of Wynyard Mews, Hartlepool, who appeared over videolink from Durham Prison was jailed for 20 weeks and given a five year restraining order.

He pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill and sending a malicious communication.