A 38-year-old man who shouted “immature and aggressive” abuse at a schoolteacher in front of her pupils has narrowly avoided jail.
The Magistrate’s Court heard that Anthony Francis Little and another man had been shouting while passing Jersey College for Girls.
When a teacher asked them to quieten down, Little shouted threatening and abusive comments – calling the teacher “a f***ing slag”.
The court also heard that Little had made an eight-minute phone call to another man, threatening to kill him.
St Helier Centenier Paul Huelin, prosecuting, told the court: “He said: ‘I know where you live, I know where you work, I know more about you than you know. I have boys to send round.’
“There was a chance they were empty threats – but the man didn’t want to take the chance.”
Advocate Mike Preston, defending, said Little had admitted the offences early and had shown genuine remorse.
And he said the threats were empty ones, pointing out: “He doesn’t know where the gentleman lives, he doesn’t know where he works, he doesn’t have a gang of boys to do him harm.
“But he knows that what he said must have been very frightening.”
Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke called the abuse towards the teacher “immature and aggressive” but added: “The death threat was of a different character. It was planned and it was designed to cause genuine fear.”
He said the death threat alone “crosses the custodial threshold” but decided on a non-custodial sentence.