SOUTHAMPTON MAN JAILED FOR RELENTLESS HARASSMENT OF EX-GIRLFRIEND
A man bombarded his ex-girlfriend with phone calls and texts only two months after he was released from prison.Lance Cole made his victim a “paranoid wreck” as he tried calling and texting her 18 times in 30 minutes.
The 36-year-old was jailed in August 2024 for more than three years over his relentless campaign of abuse against the woman over the course of their relationship.
During that time, Cole regularly threatened his victim and was often violent in front of her and towards her, with the court told previously of an incident where he spiked her drink with sleeping pills.
He also damaged her car and threw a glass at the wall during an argument.
Cole was released on licence in May and decided to torment his victim and her father two months later.
The victim is now too scared to live alone.
Judge John Atwill described Cole’s actions as "persistent" and said this could have been avoided had he done the “sensible thing” and not contacted his former partner.
Prosecuting, Keely Harvey said Cole texted her 18 times and tried to call her three times all in the space of 30 minutes on July 31.
Cole also phoned the victim’s father multiple times after 10.30pm, calling him a “rat” and repeatedly calling even when he didn’t answer, which caused worry for his daughter.
Police were called and they arrived at Cole’s father’s house in Southampton.
He barricaded himself in an en-suite, threatened to harm himself if anyone tried to get in, and told officers he would harm himself before returning to prison.
After a standoff, Cole was arrested.
He later claimed he did “not make the calls or send the messages” and accused his ex-girlfriend and her sister of setting him up.
He admitted to breaching restraining orders and was jailed for 15 months.
