Spurned woman made gun threats to ex-wife

Debra Taylor-Webb (55) left a photo album and notes on victim Nichola Taylor-Webb’s car. She begged the victim to go back to her and even went into a newsagent’s shop trying to find out where Mrs Taylor-Webb lived after she secretly moved house.

Burnley Magistrates’ Court was told the victim said she was left feeling vulnerable by Taylor-Webb’s harassment campaign, which started soon after the victim left the “controlling” defendant, two years after they were wed.

Taylor-Webb had been struggling to cope with the relationship break-up and her solicitor told the hearing the notes and contact had been “purely out of love.”

The defendant was spared jail, but a deputy district judge told her the offence had “got very, very close to the custody bracket.”

Prosecutor Andrew Robinson told the court Nichola Taylor-Webb and the defendant started a relationship in 2012 and they were married in 2015.

The complainant described Taylor-Webb as controlling and said she would control what friends she could see and was verbally abusive. The victim started to receive hand-written notes through her door.

Mr Robinson said: “On August 12th, when she went to her car, she noticed a plastic bag tied to the driver’s side door handle. She knew immediately it was from the defendant. She untied the bag and found three pieces of paper with hand-written notes on. They were more threatening. One read ‘Have you ever had a real gun pointed at your head or a knife held to your face?’”

The defendant, of Adamson Street, Burnley, admitted harassment without violence, between March 29th and August 15th last year.

She was given a 12-month community order, with a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days and was fined £50. She was also ordered to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.