A MAN who ‘threatened to throw acid’ at his ex-girlfriend has been spared an immediate jail term.

William James Greenaway was told by a judge that it was “with some hesitancy” that he had reached the “unusual” conclusion of a suspended prison term in his case.

Greenaway, 30, previously pleaded guilty to offences of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, assault by beating, criminal damage and sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing message or matter.

All four offences involved the same victim, the defendant’s former partner.

Greenaway appeared via video link from custody for his sentencing hearing at Salisbury Crown Court on Friday, October 15.

Prosecuting, Letitia Egan said the assault, criminal damage and communication offences all took place at an address in Poole on April 29.

Greenaway pushed his then girlfriend’s head into the headboard of a bed.

Later that day, during an argument, he punched the walls of the living room and was said to have slapped the victim across the face.

He then sent a threatening message to her, which read: “If I see you with another man, then I will kill you both.”

The defendant’s offending escalated in late July when he committed the stalking crime.

Ms Egan said in the space of just more than five hours on the evening of July 26, Greenaway sent 27 WhatsApp messages to the victim with her replying at some points asking him to stop.

“She received a messaged which said ‘acid’ and a follow up message ‘face’,” said Ms Egan.

Other communication from the defendant said “you won’t even want to look in the mirror again” and “no more selfies”.

Greenaway, of Quayside Road, Southampton, also made 55 calls to his ex-girlfriend from a withheld number.

The court heard the defendant turned up at the victim’s home uninvited and unannounced on July 27.

They spoke through a window and when a disagreement arose, Greenaway reached in his pocket and produced a black object.

Ms Egan said the victim feared this contained acid and she retreated to safety.

The defendant contacted police himself and asked if he was a wanted man before attending a police station.

Mitigating, Oliver Capildeo said his client pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and he wanted to offer no excuse for his actions.

Mr Capildeo said Greenaway’s life had been “dogged by drugs” along with excessive alcohol consumption.

This “spiralled out of control” within the relationship in April, said Mr Capildeo.

In making the argument for a suspended sentence, the barrister said there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, the defendant did not pose a risk or danger to the public and he had shown he could comply with probation’s orders in the past.

The Recorder of Salisbury Judge Andrew Barnett said Greenaway acted “disgracefully” to his ex-girlfriend, adding that his conduct was “deeply unpleasant”.

Discussing his behaviour after the initial April offending, the judge said: “You were released if not on bail on the equivalent of bail and then in July you committed a more serious offence of stalking.”

The defendant’s stalking conduct was described as “totally unacceptable” by the judge.

In giving his reasons for deciding against immediate custody, Judge Barnett said the suspended term would mean an eye could be kept on the defendant for two years and he had a strong prospect of rehabilitation. Greenaway was sentenced to six months jail, suspended for two years, with a requirement to complete a 42-day accredited programme and up to 25 days of rehabilitation activity. The defendant was also made subject to a 10-year restraining order.