Armed police were scrambled to Luton bus station after a Bedford woman received gun threats from her jealous ex-boyfriend.
Daniel Greenshields, 25, had sent the woman a WhatsApp message in which he brandished a gun and said he was going to “blow her kneecaps off.”
Two days later, on September 9, last year, he said was “beyond mad” and was coming to see her in Bedford.
Prosecutor Daniel Wright told Luton crown court: “He sent two messages that gave her the impression he was going to carry out the threats. She called the police and the defendant was intercepted by armed police.”
Inside his bag was an imitation Glock 17 pistol and a lock-knife.
The court heard the Bedford woman had been in an 11 month relationship with Greenshields, but they had split up in May last year because he was controlling and obsessive. He believed she was seeing other men and was angry when she had ignored his calls.
Greenshields, of no fixed address, appeared for sentence on a video link from Bedford prison. He had been convicted by a jury of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear and had admitted possessing a lock-knife. He had five convictions for seven previous offences.
Defending, Adam Butler said: “The firearm was never brandished. He had sent her a photograph of himself with it in his possession. It was an imitation gun and could not be used.”
He said Greenshields had spent eight months on remand and had made good use of his time in custody. He had attended courses for mental health, alcohol and drug abuse.
On his release, his intention is to work as a chef and live with his mother in Norfolk.
Judge Lynn Tayton QC told him his victim had been scared and was “in fear of her life.”
She had suffered anxiety, isolation and depression.
The judge jailed him for 18 months and made a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim or going within 100 metres of her.
