A jilted ex threatened to burn his victim's house down as he sent her a picture of himself standing outside her home.

David Harrop, 20, then challenged the woman's dad and brother "to come outside for a fight." He said he would "get some lads around with a shotgun" and they would stab his ex-partner's dad and burn his car.

Harrop later admitted that he had been under the influence of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, when he made the threats, on June 2 and 3.

The victim and her family were left petrified as to what Harrop would do to them. Teesside Crown Court heard that the next day, the victim was at home in Darlington when she heard a loud bang. Rachel Butt, prosecuting, said that the woman thought she saw Harrop outside, with a knife.

She left the house with her dad, and Harrop thr

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