A CONVICTED killer who threatened to murder a woman and her daughter if she did not respond to his text messages has been jailed for 19 months.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Alan Hardy had only met his victim days earlier in a unit at Royal Blackburn Hospital, described as a holding facility for people who need mental health or alcohol treatment.

Prosecuting, Stephen Parker said: “While there the victim met this defendant who had been there for several days. He seemed like a nice guy. They got on well." He never discussed with her why he was there.

"They remained there for several nights and did spend a certain amount of time in each other's company, along with other people.”

The court heard that after the 30-year-old defendant and his victim were discharged they briefly met outside Burnley General Hospital and exchanged mobile numbers.

Mr Parker said: “The nub of the offending is that the defendant through the course of a day bombarded the young lady with a stream of offensive text messages.”

A selection of them read: “You’re not ringing me back. Take care.”

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“You have left me no choice but to come round.”

“Keep f****** ignoring me. I am on my way.”

“One victim is already dealt with and that is your fault. You are going to die soon.”

“You’re going to die very soon. Try me girl.”

“I’ve just got one question, why are you so fat? See you soon.”

“Tell me where you are. I will put you out of your misery. I hate you.”

“You have got a choice. Either meet me or you don’t know what.”

“Do you actually think I am not going to do anything. You think you can block me on Whatsapp? You and your daughter are going to die.”

“You have pushed me to the edge. I am a nice lad. You are going to regret ignoring me.”

Mr Parker said none of the threats were carried out but when Hardy, of Tanpits Road, Church, was arrested police described him as being drunk and unpredictable.

In her police statement the victim said the threats had caused her genuine concern because she had only known the defendant for a matter of days and had no idea what he was capable of.

Hardy pleaded guilty to putting a person in fear of violence by harassment.

Defending, Stuart Kaufman said: “He is ashamed of what he did. They spent a couple of days binge drinking, both of them. To some extent he feels he was attention seeking rather than having any intention to carry out the threats she was ignoring him over.”

Judge Andrew Jefferies QC described the texts as “chilling” and said he believed the message referring to “one victim being dealt with” was linked to the manslaughter conviction he received in 2008.

Hardy was released in 2015 and has now been recalled to prison and it will be up to the Parole Board when he is released.