Man warned ex-wife's new partner 'the Scousers are watching your every move'

A man who struggles to accept that his former wife has moved on made a series of lurid threats to his ex's new partner, a court has heard. Robert Stanier contacted the man via the professional networking site LinkedIn and told him he was going to "destroy" him and that he had associates based in Liverpool who were "watching his every move".

Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that Stanier and the complainant had been in a relationship for some nine years before separating in 2020.

He said Stanier's partner then "moved on with her life", something the defendant "had difficulty accepting".

The court heard Stanier was given a suspended sentence and made subject to a restraining order in 2024 after being convicted of harassing his ex partner and her new boyfriend.

The prosecutor said in November this year the defendant began calling and sending messages to his ex, and then contacted her new partner via the LinkedIn networking website, telling him that he was going to "destroy" him and that he was "waiting for the right time to bring your world down".

Stanier also told the man that he was in contact with "Scousers and Midland Crew" and said: "The Scousers are watching your every move".

The messages were reported to the police and officers went to the defendant's house to arrest him. Stanier was not at home but officers spoke to him over the phone, and later on the same day he walked into Swansea Central police station.

Police then returned to the defendant's house to search for his mobile phone and found knuckledusters inside the property.

The court heard the 40-year-old defendant gave "largely 'no comment' answers" when interviewed but did tell officers that he had found the knuckleduster in his flat when he moved in and had been using it as a bottle opener.

In a statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the defendant's ex said she does not feel safe as Stanier breaches the conditions of the restraining order and cannot accept that she has moved on.

In his statement the woman's new partner said Stanier was unpredictable and said he was worried about he would do.

Robert Stanier, of Warwick Place, West Cross, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to two breaches of a restraining order and to a charge of possession of an offensive weapon in a private place when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

The defendant, who is originally from Stoke, has two previous convictions for two offences - an assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and harassment.

Samuel Jenkins, for Stanier, said the offending happened some 12 months into the currency of the restraining order. He said the defendant had completed an electrician's course at college and was hoping to secure an apprenticeship.

With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Judge Catherine Richards sentenced Stanier to four months in prison and activated nine months of the previously imposed sentence to run consecutively, making an overall sentence of 13 months in prison.

The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in prison before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.