Man jailed at Teesside Crown Court after Hartlepool threats

The victim barricaded himself in the shared property in Hartlepool after Kamil Atar, 60, banged on his door at 3am.

Teesside Crown Court heard the two men had socialised together occasionally but the relationship soured in May last year.

Jonathan Gittens, prosecuting, said the victim went to bed but awoke at 3am to numerous missed calls and text messages from Atar.

Shortly after, he heard Atar banging on his door and shouting aggressively in Turkish.

Mr Gittens said: “The defendant was shouting ‘Tonight’s the night. It’s either your head or my head’.”

The victim saw Atar in a communal area holding a large kitchen knife and called the police.

Atar was arrested and later bailed but threatened the victim again saying he had made “the biggest mistake of your life”.

The victim said he had never felt so scared, adding: “I honestly thought I was going to die that night.”

Atar admitted harassment and witness intimidation.

He also pleaded guilty to harassing a former long-time friend from Turkey by sending hundreds of abusive and threatening messages between May-December 2022.

It related to a takeaway owner and his wife and daughter who Atar made threats towards.

Atar, of no fixed abode, told police he was drunk when he sent some of the messages.

Lydia Carroll, mitigating, said the offences were “not sophisticated” and the Hartlepool incident was short lived.

Judge Richard Bennett sentenced Atar to six years and four months imprisonment and made two indefinite restraining orders.