Jail for South Shields thug who threatened to kill woman's son after she reported him to police
Offender tells court: “I'm sick of the criminal life. You will never see me in front of a judge again."
A brute who threatened to kill his friend's son after she made a report about him to the police has been put behind bars.
The woman had called 999 in June and told officers Jonathan Evans had made threats to her and her property.
Newcastle Crown Court heard Evans was arrested and bailed with conditions not to contact her or attend her address.
Two days later Evans saw the woman in South Shields, South Tyneside, told her to drop the charges and warned he would kill her son, which left her scared.
Later that day the woman received a series of phone calls and Evans turned up at her house but was chased away by a neighbour.
Evans, 33, of Coston Drive, South Shields, who has a criminal record and was on a suspended sentence, admitted perverting the course of justice.
He was not prosecuted over the original allegations and has now vowed to turn his back on the "criminal life".
Judge Sarah Mallett sentenced him to 12 months and said: "You told her to drop the charges against you and then you threatened to kill her son.
"Obviously she felt scared as a result of what you said.
"She went back home and she received numerous calls from two numbers which I think you accept you were using.
"Later on that day CCTV from a neighbouring property shows you attended her address before a neighbour chased you away."
Evans, who appeared at the hearing via video link to prison, addressed the court after he was sentenced and said: "I am very, very sorry for what I have done.
"I want to stay out of trouble. While I've been in custody I've been doing no drugs or nothing, I just want to stay out of trouble.
"I want to start my life. I'm sick of the criminal life. You will never see me in front of a judge again."
After clarifying the details of his jail term, Evans told the judge: "I think it is more than fair what you have given me."
Penny Hall, defending, said Evans, who has support from his long term partner, had been "upset" when the woman reported him for "something he had not done" and had no real intention to cause anyone harm.