Cheshire: Prisoner threatened to slit ex’s throat

Karl Mabley also threatened to have someone set her house on fire and ‘batter’ her daughter on phone calls while he was serving time in HM Prison Risley.

The 36-year-old was in jail at the time for harassment against the same victim, who said she was ‘terrified’ for the day when he will be released.

He appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday after being charged with breaching his restraining order against her.

Paul Wood, prosecuting, explained how the defendant and complainant were previously in a relationship, but this was fraught with difficulties due to Mabley’s behaviour.

This ultimately resulted in a restraining order being made on February 17 last year prohibiting him from contacting her.

Despite this, in August 2021, the victim was in her garden with her daughter when her phone rang. She recognised the voice of the defendant, who was incarcerated at HMP Risley, and told him not to contact her.

However, he became threatening, saying he was going to ‘slit her throat’ when he got out of prison and how he would get someone to ‘burn her house down that night’.

He made the phone calls while serving time in HM Prison Risley

He also said that he would get people to ‘batter her daughter’, who could hear what was being said due to the volume on the call, as well as target another family member.

On December 1, the complainant then received a birthday card in the post from the defendant which included no threats, instead citing lyrics from an Adele song.

The following February 24, the victim received a phone call from an unknown number and again recognised the defendant’s voice pleading with her to talk to him, but she hung up.

He rang back and said he would tell her new partner she was a ‘cheater’, calling her a ‘scrubber’ before ending the call.

Mabley sent a text message minutes later calling her another expletive, and again later that day to say ‘rot in hell you tramp’.

On March 1, the defendant called her and asked if she knew a man, then threatening to ‘cut his face’ when he was released from prison, again calling her a ‘s**g’. Another call two minutes later saw her called a ‘s**th***e’.

In an impact statement, the victim said she is ‘terrified’ the defendant, who has caused her anxiety levels to go ‘through the roof’.

She wrote that she has had to speak to her employer about changing roles in work and feels she needs to move house to ensure her safety.

Karl Mabley was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court

She added that she is nervous about when he will be released from prison, that meeting him was ‘the worst thing that has happened to her’ and that her life is a ‘complete mess’ because of him.

Mr Wood revealed to the court that Mabley has 18 previous convictions for 33 offences, including for violence and for harassment of previous partners by breaching restraining orders.

In his defence, Carmel Wilde asked for credit for his guilty plea, despite admitting that his behaviour was ‘clearly disgraceful’.

“Some of the calls were amicable at first, but they clearly escalated in seriousness. He became riled in arguments with her and he loses his temper when things get heated,” she said.

Ms Wilde commented that Mabley sent the birthday card to ‘express his regret for past matters’, and that he ‘realises now he has to let her go’.

Before sentencing, judge Stuart Driver said: “This was a very serious and persistent breach of a restraining order which caused very serious distress to a vulnerable woman.

“Matters are made worse by your terrible criminal record – at 36, you have 33 previous convictions, including a number for violence, harassment and breaches of restraining orders committed against other victims before you met this complainant.

Mabley, of Southwood Road in Liverpool, was jailed for 27 months and told he must abide by the restraining order preventing him from contacting her.