A man threatened the mother of his 10-month-old daughter with a chilling message that he was coming to burn down the house with their baby inside.
Francis Casey, 30, sent a string of cruel voicemails to his ex-girlfriend saying he would "smack in" her hear and their baby's too.
The dad stalked and verbally abused her, claiming "I'm coming to your house to burn it down with the baby in it" in Liverpool, Merseyside.
He blamed his behaviour on a three-month drink and drugs bender but a judge said he was trying to "minimise" what he had done to his "petrified" victim, reports Liverpool Echo.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the couple split up in November with the mum describing how the last few months of their relationship "became physically abusive."
Prosecutor Christopher Hopkins said: "She refers to the defendant having grabbed her face in an argument to stop her from speaking."
Casey repeatedly turned up at the woman's home in Aigburth, Liverpool where he would bang on her door, demand to be let in and shout "slag" and "c***" through her letterbox, the court heard.
The mum-of-two felt scared and harassed and feared for children's safety including her youngest who is Casey's daughter.
But when she called the police, Casey would leave before officers arrived.
Mr Hopkins said Casey also repeatedly showed up at a Liverpool city centre pub where the mum worked. She would speak to him outside because she was embarrassed, but he insulted her and demanded money, jurors were told.
Mr Hopkins said Casey left eight voicemails on her phone between New Year's Eve and January 12, but some were "incoherent" and all "sound drunk."
In one message, he said "you dirty, vile, ugly, f****** slag of a bird" and "I'm going to kill you when I get out of jail".
Casey warned: "When I get out I'm going to smack your head in and I don't even want to see my daughter, I'm going to smack her head in as well."
He also suggested she was "lucky" he hadn't smashed her mum's windows.
In a second voicemail that day, Casey said he was coming to the pub to "smash your head in".
He added: "I'm coming to your house to burn it down with the baby in it."
The woman said she had tried to help Casey, but said: "I can't keep living in fear."
She added: "I can hardly bring myself to listen to the voicemails as they make me feel physically sick, especially when Francis is talking about hurting my daughter and burning my house down.
"I fear in the state he gets himself in, he may one day kill me. I want him to get help, for himself first, then his kids.
"I just don't ever think he will change and it's so sad, from the lad I first met, who would do anything for anyone, to the one he has become."
Casey, of no fixed address, admitted stalking involving fear of violence and breaching a suspended prison sentence.
The court heard he was previously jailed for drug offences in 2017.
Casey was convicted of criminal damage at his parents' home in June 2021, which resulted in a restraining order.
In September he was convicted of twice breaching that order and handed 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.
The dad breached the order again in December, when it was extended and he was given a home curfew, which he ignored.
Recorder Katherine Pierpoint said she was concerned a pre-sentence report suggested Casey hoped to rekindle the relationship, when "it's quite clear from her statement that she wants no contact with him whatsoever".
Ken Heckle, defending, said when sober and working "he's a perfectly nice chap" and "perfectly polite".
He said: "It's perhaps human nature that a defendant or any human being wants to concentrate on the good aspects of them, rather than the negative.
"He understands the negative. He's frightened of people's perception, including this court, that he's some sort of monster, that he doesn't recognise. But he doesn't see himself when he's drunk."
Mr Heckle said Casey couldn't remember some of the calls because he had been "so drunk" and "binge drinking" was "the root cause".
The lawyer said: "He was upset when she says he's a person that would do anything for her and 'where's that person gone?'
"It's not lost on him they had a good relationship and through drink that's been destroyed.
"His relationship with his parents has been destroyed. His relationship with his daughter has been destroyed."
Mr Heckle said "it's a terrible illness alcoholism" and Casey wanted to take courses in prison to tackle it.
He said his client was "very remorseful" and "didn't mean" the "horrible things" he said when "in a very dark place" due to the "demon drink" and drugs.
Recorder Pierpoint said Casey left his victim "petrified" of what he might do.
Casey held his head in his hands as she read out one of the messages.
Ms Pierpoint told him he had a 12-year-old son who "you no longer see" and a daughter, now aged 12 months, who "at this stage you will not be seeing".
She said Casey claimed to have been on a three-month drink and drugs binge but that wasn't an excuse and was an aggravating feature of the case.
The judge said he tried to "blame" his intoxication and said he didn't know what he was doing.
However, she highlighted that he repeatedly went to his victim's home and workplace.
Recorder Pierpoint said Casey told a probation officer he "probably" scared his ex and his actions were "probably" bad.
Jailing him for 22 months and imposing an indefinite restraining order, she said: "The fact is you did scare her. What you said is bad.
"I'm concerned you do not show proper remorse for what you did and seek to minimise your role in this matter."
