AN angry dad blamed a brain injury after he sent a string of abusive texts to his ex, including making threats to kill her and her partner.

David Hall was handed a seven month prison sentence at Worcester Crown Court on Friday after he sent the messages, flouting a restraining order designed to protect his ex-partner.

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The 35-year-old of Golden Hind Drive, Stourport, was made subject to a restraining order on October 13 last year, preventing Hall from having contact with his former partner for four years.

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However, Sally Cairns, prosecuting said Hall had been messaging the complainant since the order was imposed. She stopped responding to his messages when they became abusive.

On October 7 this year he sent a message to her about her WhatsApp profile picture which showed her with a singer, insulting her appearance, 'her lips in particular', and using 'racially abusive terms'.

"She didn't respond to any of the messages" said Mrs Cairns.

On October 8 the mother awoke to find more abusive messages which had been sent in the early hours of the morning, calling her 'a hooker'.

"The abusive messages continued throughout the day and became increasingly threatening and culminated in a threat to kill her and her partner. That is the malicious communication offence" said Mrs Cairns.

A particular threat he made was that her partner would 'get his head blown off as well as yours'. One message read: "You're going to die."

When he messaged her son, he tried to deflect the defendant and replied his mum was dead. Hall replied: "Thank God for that."

After he was arrested, Hall said he had sent some of the messages 'out of frustration and anger'.

"He said he wasn't thinking properly because of a brain injury" said Mrs Cairns.

Hall has eight previous convictions on his record including criminal damage, driving with excess alcohol and resisting a constable, disclosing private sexual photographs of a different woman.

Last year he was convicted of criminal damage and stalking which resulted in a 12 week prison sentence and a restraining order. He breached that restraining order in January, receiving a six month community order.

Mrs Cairns called the breach of the restraining order 'serious and persistent', aggravated by previous convictions and past breaches of the order.

Balvinder Bhatti, defending, said Hall had pleaded guilty at the earliest available opportunity in the magistrates court on October 11 this year.

Miss Bhatti said: "It's clear he has difficulties controlling his emotions and behaviour. It appears there's some medical evidence to support this. His brain injury, to some extent, prevents him from holding back."

She explained that he was receiving medication because of the injury, including steroids and antidepressants and was also on medication for seizures.

"He has had a number of strokes. It has limited his mobility and affected his speech" she said.

The barrister also said 23 hours in lockdown in his cell during Covid had 'taken a toll on his mental health'.

Judge James Burbidge QC told Hall: "In one sense you are lucky that the prosecution chose to charge this offence as sending a communication conveying a threat rather than the traditional charge of threats to kill."

Judge Burbidge jailed him for seven months.