A MAN slapped his ex-partner with the blade of a knife and threatened to kill her after she broke up with him over his use of drugs.

Jamie Bleu Marcus Smallwood, 32, of no fixed abode, gained entry into his former partner's home in Boscombe, through a door he had previously broken, and attacked her with a knife.

He then phoned her days later to ask her to drop the charges.

He pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, perverting the course of justice and battery, and was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Prosecuting, Anthony Waller told the court the victim broke up with Smallwood in December 2020 after she became increasingly concerned about his use of drugs.

“He would knock at the door and throw stones at the window, sometimes she would relent and let him in. Other occasions [her daughter] would let him in,” Mr Waller said.

“In early January the defendant damaged the door to her home address so it could no longer be secured. After that the defendant took her handbag, which contained £300.”

Mr Waller said an arrangement was made for Smallwood to return the money on January 18 but he didn’t turn up.

At around 3.30am on January 19, the victim was at her home with a friend when Smallwood gained entry.

Mr Waller said: “The defendant saw the friend and said ‘I am glad it was you, I thought I was going to have to kill somebody’.

“The defendant threw the victim's phone across the room and stepped forward, now standing over her.

“He used the side of the knife to slap her. He then swung the knife at her, slashing it across her. She managed to pull her belly in to avoid the blows.

“He shouted at her, ‘I am going to kill you’.”

He pointed the knife at her, the court heard, but was distracted by the victim’s daughter who had come in.

The defendant then left but returned to ask if the police had been called. When officers arrived, he escaped through a bathroom window but was arrested shortly after.

On January 21, the victim received three calls from Smallwood asking her to drop the charges. He made no threats but was “begging”.

Smallwood had a number of previous convictions, including GBH in 2011, for which he served seven and a half years of an eight-year sentence.

Mitigating, Helen Butcher said Smallwood had been described as “misunderstood” and said he wanted to turn his life around.

She said he had no further offences for violence despite being in prison for seven and a half years and asked for the shortest possible sentence.

Judge Brian Forster QC sentenced Smallwood to three years for making threats to kill and six months for perverting the course of justice, to be served consecutively. He was also sentenced to four months for battery, to be served concurrently, meaning he’ll serve three and a half years behind bars.

Judge Forster QC referred to the fact Smallwood had a “particular quality as a rapper”, with the defendant offering to play the judge some of his music after the hearing.

Sentencing, Judge Forster QC said: “You waved the knife in their direction and made a threat to kill them.

“One has to imagine that situation to understand the fear that has been described by that person in relation to what took place.

“You were very worried about your own situation in panic you contacted the person asking them to drop the case against you. It must have been unnerving.”

A restraining order was also put in place preventing Smallwood from contacting the victim or her daughter.

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