Anthony James Cairns, 35, also said he would “chop off the complainant’s head and enjoy it" and told the woman to tell police to “send an armed response as I am not giving up lightly”
- said Robert Galley, prosecuting.
In another of many message and phone calls to the woman he said: “You are dead, you are dead, you are ……. dead” and threatened to shoot her mother as well as her.
Police found ammunition for the firearms at his house.
He has a previous conviction for having a firearm illegally in a pub and assault, said Mr Galley at York Crown Court.
Jordan Millican, defending, said the cause of Cairns’ offending was drugs and alcohol as well as poor mental health from using both substances and two family bereavements.
Cairns, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to stalking, having an air pistol and an air rifle illegally, possessing cannabis and possessing tramadol. A charge of coercive behaviour in a relationship was left on file after he denied it. It will appear on his criminal record but not as a conviction.
He was jailed for 16 months and banned from contacting the woman in any way for 10 years.
Mr Galley said police from outside North Yorkshire were watching Cairns in The Olympia pub in Selby in January 2024 when he seemed to become aware of their presence.
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