A stalker told his ex-wife he had hired a hitman to murder her daughter.
Twisted James Christie, who was banned from speaking to his former partner for 15 years, bombarded her with menacing emails and voicemails and told her: “I would see you in a body bag.”
Perth Sheriff Court heard the slaughterhouse worker phoned his ex to tell her he had paid someone £2,000 to slit her adult daughter’s throat.
Christie later turned up at her home in Perth but tried to flee when he saw police.
The 36-year-old appeared in the dock and admitted being engaged in a course of conduct which caused his ex-wife fear or alarm between July 30 and August 1 last year.
He further admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner and breaching the terms of a non-harassment order by approaching his former partner.
Record banning order
In 2020, Christie was handed one of the longest non-harassment orders ever imposed after he admitted assaulting his wife in front of her then-nine-year-old girl.
Christie, who has been remanded, now faces further jail time.
Sheriff William Wood told him: “The future potential issue here is what is going to happen to you when you are released from custody.
“You are certainly not going anywhere just now.
“Given the nature of the charge and given your record, I would be remiss releasing you today.”
Sentence was deferred until next month for background reports.
Floral delivery
Fiscal depute Michael Dunlop said the ex-wife, who had been married to Christie for 10 years, was at her home in Perth when she received a bouquet of flowers from an anonymous sender.
“She suspected they were from the accused,” he said.
“She was not aware of anyone else who would send her flowers.”
The woman messaged her ex and told him not to send flowers.
“The accused replied, asking why he couldn’t and told her he loved her,” said Mr Dunlop.
After that, the ex-wife blocked Christie from all social media platforms, although she did not know how to stop his emails.
He then sent a series of insulting and threatening messages, telling her: “If you don’t answer my texts I will come and kill you.”
Mr Dunlop said: “The complainer ignored these emails, which further enraged the accused.”
Threats to kill
On August 1, the victim was with her daughter at a family gathering.
“Despite having blocked the accused’s number, he was still able to leave her voicemails,” the fiscal depute told the court.
Eventually, she unblocked him on Facebook Messenger to ask him what he wanted.
The conversation was recorded by her daughter and later played back to police.
Christie told her: “I’m coming to the house. I’m going to show you how p***ed off I am.”
He added: “I mean everything. I would see you in a body bag before you know.”
Mr Dunlop said Christie told his ex-wife he had paid someone £2,000 to come and slit her daughter’s throat and that he would make her watch.
“They were terrified of the accused’s behaviour and genuinely believed he would attend at the house to do them harm,” the prosecutor said.
Police chase outside ex’s home
At around 6.30pm, Christie turned up at his ex-wife’s flat and pressed the hallway buzzer.
She was on the phone to police at the time and watched him standing on the street from her third floor window.
Christie mumbled something incoherently before walking away.
He then turned and started walking back but fled when police sirens approached.
After a chase, Christie was arrested.
He told officers: “I’ll find out where you live. I’ll slit your f***ing throats. I’ve got a blade.”
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said: “After his release, Mr Christie has managed to take himself away from previous difficulties with drugs and alcohol.
“At this time, he was seven days late taking his medication and perhaps the stress of that caused him to behave in this manner.”
