Man told job centre worker he would ‘blow her head off with a shotgun’
A man has been banned from a third job centre after telling a member of staff that he would “blow her head off with a shotgun”. Kyle Wright was already barred from sites in Skelmersdale[1] and Ormskirk[2], but went on to issue a series of threats in which he said he would “smash the f*** out of” Crosby[3] JobCentre Plus. Liverpool Magistrates’ Court[4] heard today, Friday, that the 33-year-old used his girlfriend’s account in order to send a message to the job centre on the afternoon of September 13 this year, in which he threatened to “come down the jobby and smash the f*** out of the place”.
He added: “I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again.” Wright, of Westminster Avenue in Netherton[6], was subsequently sent a letter telling him that his “conduct was not acceptable”. But Andrew Page, prosecuting, described how he replied with a letter of his own on September 21, in which he said: “It’s Kyle Wright again.
“I’ll be coming to the job centre and I’ll smash it up. See you soon.” Wright was then warned that the police had been contacted about his behaviour.
However, on November 16, he took his partner’s mobile phone from her during a call with a job centre worker and insulted the employee and said: “I’ll bring my shotgun and blow your head off your shoulders.” The incident was said to have caused the staff member a “great deal of anxiety”, while she had to be walked to and from the building to her car by security in the aftermath. A statement read to the court on her behalf added: “I should not be subjected to abuse while I am working.”
Wright admitted two counts of threatening to destroy property and a malicious communications offence during an earlier hearing, and has been remanded into custody since entering his guilty pleas on November 21. The dad has a total of 25 previous convictions for 38 offences, including theft, assaulting police officers and threatening behaviour towards traffic wardens and children’s services staff – last finding himself in trouble with the law in October last year, when he was handed a 12-month community order. The court heard that he has a terminally-ill child and had missed an appointment with the job centre due to a hospital visit, after which he was threatened with having his benefits sanctioned.
Wright was also said to have previously been seriously injured in a motorbike accident, after which he was signed off sick. Rebecca Templeman, defending, told the bench: “While his record isn’t his best feature, he hasn’t been in custody before. That five weeks has had the desired effect.
“Mr Wright is absolutely terrified at the prospect of going back there. He spent Christmas in custody, away from his child. “Mr Wright is certainly somebody who has learned his lesson.
He would ask that any sentence today is suspended.” Wright was handed a 12-week imprisonment suspended for a year by magistrates. He will also be required to pay GBP120 in compensation and a GBP154 victim surcharge and was given a restraining order preventing him from entering or contacting Crosby JobCentre Plus for two years.
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References
- ^ Skelmersdale (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Ormskirk (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Crosby (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Liverpool Magistrates’ Court (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ These are the faces of 505 Merseyside criminals who were jailed during 2023 (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Netherton (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)