Ex's 27 minutes of South Shields 'mayhem' had victim fearing for her life
A heavy drinking South Tyneside man left his former flame fearing for her life when he banged and kicked on her door in a bid to get inside, a court heard.
Kevin Walker’s 27 minutes of early hours mayhem in Coston Drive, central South Shields, caused his terrified victim to call the police and led to his arrest.
Walker, 50, of Unity Hall, Mill Dam, South Shields, began by asking her to repay money he claimed she owed after their two-year relationship floundered.
But he ended up instilling such fear she believed she may be killed, the woman claimed in a statement to police - despite no direct threat being made.
He had previously paid for or lent her money to buy some of the drugs and alcohol she needed to feed those joint addictions – but had done so to support and not injure her.
Prosecutor Rehana Haque told borough magistrates the woman began to retreat from the relationship after seven months.
She also started to engage with a drug rehabilitation support service and moved into her mother’s top floor flat.
But Walker turned up there shortly after midnight on Saturday, July 13, having phoned her multiple times.
He banged on the front door while asking for money and went away and returned up to five times, with his behaviour “escalating”, the statement said.
In it, the woman added, “I believe that if he got inside the house, he would kill me.
“I was crawling along the floor as I didn’t want to stand up in case he saw me. I could hear his voice shouting and swearing.”
Mrs Haque said Walker vanished before police arrived but after they left, he stood in the street, moving his hand in a cutting motion across his throat.
Walker, whose last conviction was in 1997, pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment – put in fear of violence.
Alastair Naismith, defending, said: “Twenty-seven minutes is the length of the incident.
“He has no memory of this. It was only when shown footage that he recognised it was him.
“He explains that at the time he was struggling with alcohol.
“He was regularly drinking to the point where he blanked out. He’s made efforts to control his drinking.”
Magistrates adjourned the case for Walker’s mental health to be assessed ahead of sentencing at the same court on Wednesday, December 4.