Mobile: Solicitor received barrage of threatening messages
A woman has been handed a suspended prison sentence after threatening to kill her former solicitor five years after she acted for her in Family Court proceedings.
Rio Barton from Middlesbrough continued to blame the lawyer for the outcome of the case, making accusations during an outburst from the dock.
She pleaded guilty to sending threatening messages of death or serious harm.
According to local news reports from Teesside Live and the Northern Echo, the unnamed solicitor stopped representing Ms Barton due to her behaviour, but the ex-client continued to contact her and the firm every few months.
In April 2022, she went to the office and became abusive, threatening to batter the solicitor and “rip every hair out of her head”.
Last summer, the solicitor received a number of text messages on her work mobile while on holiday.
Messages included “I’m going to kill you”, “I want money back out of your own personal wages”, “I’m going to rip that head clean off your f***ing shoulders”, “I’ll kill you, you little f***ing dog” and “leave your job because I’ll knife you”.
The solicitor blocked the 33-year-old’s number and, when she was arrested, Ms Barton smashed her phone because she did not want officers to access her messages.
The court heard that she has 11 previous convictions for 23 offences including battery, stalking and harassment.
Her advocate said in mitigation said Ms Barton was a “vulnerable adult” with mental health problems including anxiety and depression.
He said she was unable to move past this incident in her life and had said going to prison would not change it, “because there is something in her mind which has that particular event at the forefront of her depressive concerns”.
However, the court heard that since she has been on bail, she has not attempted to contact the solicitor or her firm.
Recorder Marc Giuliani was quoted as saying: “You were upset with a decision that a judge made in the family court. You decided not to accept that decision of the court but to blame the lawyer for an outcome you did not want.
“You then proceeded a campaign of harassment against the firm and against [the complainant] who had been representing you in these proceedings.”
He added: “Despite your outburst during my sentencing remarks, the biggest factor in your favour is since bail conditions have been in place you have not made any attempt to contact [the solicitor].”
The judge sentenced her to two years in jail, suspended for two years. She must carry out up to 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and was made subject to a restraining order for 15 years.
Law Society research last year found that the level of threats, intimidation and even physical violence faced by solicitors has “significantly increased” and extends across a wide range of practice areas.
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