Jail sentence for man who said woman would be 'shot' if she entered a part of Ballymena
A man who said if his ex-partner entered Carnduff Drive in Ballymena she would be "shot" has been given a jail sentence.
John Joseph McAuley (45), with an address listed as Carnduff Drive in Ballymena, committed offences in January this year.
He pleaded guilty to making a threatening communication and breaching a Restraining Order.
The defendant appeared at Ballymena Magistrates' Court on Thursday via video link from prison.
A prosecutor said McAuley told his ex-partner: "I am involved with loyalist paramilitaries and you are not allowed in Carnduff Drive or you will be shot".
The court was told that in another phone call the defendant had said: "I will shoot you in the head. I have access to guns, watch your car".
A defence barrister said the defendant had been assaulted with an iron bar and hospitalised in January and there were "mental" health aspects to that.
He had "turned to alcohol as a way of coping" and had "taken out these issues on his ex-wife" and is remorseful and "disgusted" by his behaviour.
District Judge Nigel Broderick handed down a ten months prison sentence and there is a two-year Restraining Order.