A controlling thug terrorised his ex-girlfriend and sent her audio clips of him having sex with a new flame. Christopher McGreal, who was also one of 40 men to be prosecuted for their part in violent scenes outside Old Trafford, stalked his former partner and tried to 'cause her as much misery as possible'.
He wrecked her VW Polo by scratching every panel of the car, then did the same to a replacement vehicle. "Go look at your go faster stripes," McGreal told her on Instagram as he bragged of his crime.
McGreal, 30, from Blackley, also turned up at her mother's home and claimed that he'd paid someone £1,000 to 'petrol bomb her house', Manchester Crown Court heard. The victim said she was left 'totally petrified' and told how it affected her sleep.
McGreal also sent the woman audio recordings of him having sex with a new flame as he sought to taunt her, prosecutor Peter Gilmour said.
"I feel like I can't get on with my life with my children," she said in a statement read on her behalf. The pair had been in a relationship for five months but split due to McGreal's 'violent behaviour'.
McGreal was also prosecuted for an offence against the woman's niece, who worked at a pub.
He had turned up at the boozer and got into an altercation with two men. Following the incident, McGreal sent the niece a message saying: "If they have phoned the police I am going to get that gaff burned down and every person in there stabbed up."
At the time of the stalking, which occurred over a near month long period in March and April last year, McGreal was on bail for his part in the violent disorder as protests against the Glazer family's ownership of Manchester United took place.
United were due to play Liverpool on May 2, 2021 in a game played behind closed doors due to coronavirus restrictions, but the game was called off after demonstrators forced entry into the stadium. McGreal was not one of those who broke into the ground, but he was involved in an fracas in the hours before the proposed 4.30pm kick off.
He threw three bottles of beer, one of which hit a man on the head, and threw a punch as the protests turned ugly. On Tuesday, McGreal, of Silver Birch Road, Blackley, was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.
He pleaded guilty to stalking, two counts of breaching a restraining order, criminal damage, sending a communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety and violent disorder. He was also handed a six year football banning order.
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