A GRIEVING father threatened to kill his former partner's grandchildren after she ended the relationship. Gary Seward, 47, drank three litres of wine before phoning Linda Hall and telling her he was going to kill them.
Hull Crown Court heard Seward's 21-year-old son killed himself in 2010 and, consumed with grief, he turned to alcohol.
Prosecuting Nicholas Niale said: "Ms Hall had a phone call from the defendant in which she ended the relationship, saying it was all over.
"Subsequently, he rang again at 4.30pm and a number of threats were made.
"He said, 'I just want you to see what it feels like to lose a child'."
Just over a week earlier, on June 24, Seward had burst into the Bluebell Pub on the Riverhead in Driffield, wearing only his pyjamas bottoms and brandishing a machete.
Police launched a search to find him and he was arrested.
Mr Niale said: "He went into the Bluebell public house in his pyjamas bottoms and had a machete with him.
"He pulled it out and he was described as being drunk.
"He called the police himself, saying he wanted to hurt someone, and they came to the pub looking for him."
Seward was apologetic for his actions, released on bail and picked up from the station by Ms Hall, who he had met on Facebook.
He later started drinking pint glasses of wine and arguing with Ms Hall.
Mr Niale said: "On July 4, he was back on the drink.
"She went to see him and could see through the keyhole a pint glass of wine on the table and he wouldn't let her in.
"He indicated he had a gun at the flat."
Terrified by the threats, Ms Hall took her daughter and grandchildren to a pub in Beverley and phoned Seward's mother, who then called the police.
Seward, who does charity work at his local church, pleaded guilty to making threats to kill and wasteful employment of the police.
He has been branded a "medium risk" to the public by psychiatrists.
In mitigation, Stephen Robinson said he would never have carried out his threats.
Mr Robinson said: "This defendant had a son that, when he was 21 years old in 2010, he committed suicide.
"He took it very badly and he began drinking.
"He simply couldn't cope.
"The defendant began a relationship and there were other pressures – his father died, as did his two best friends.
"While these didn't turn him back to drink, they did, however, bring back memories of his son and the unresolved grief attached to that."
He said Seward had been out of trouble and had stopped drinking for two years following three months in a psychiatric unit.
He said: "He has a drink problem and a grief problem. You can view this as a cry for help."
Seward was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered him to carry out a 12-month supervision requirement and a six-month alcohol treatment programme.
Sentencing him, recorder Sara Dodd said: "It seems to me undoubtedly, the very tragic death of your son has had very sad consequences upon you in the past few years."
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