A THUG who viciously threatened to smash his ex-girlfriend’s head against a wall while he was banned from contacting her is behind bars.

Jamie Campbell Murphy, a prisoner of HMP Kilmarnock, appeared from custody at Ayr Sheriff Court last week for sentencing.

The 29-year-old had previously pled guilty to breaching a Non-Harassment Order from May 2017 which prohibited him from approaching or contacting his ex-partner.

Murphy broke the order several times between November 24 of last year and January 18, 2019 at a locationin New Cumnock and elsewhere.

He repeatedly phoned, texted and messaged the woman, threatened her with violence and directed derogatory comments towards her.

The messages followed a Facebook exchange between Murphy’s ex-partner and his new girlfriend on November 24, 2018, whereby his new partner had enquired why Murphy was banned from seeing his children and why he was in prison.

Procurator Fiscal Depute Lindzi Bayne told how Murphy threatened revenge on his ex-girlfriend more than once, at one point saying he was going to “smash her head against the wall just like the dog” and on other occasions threatening to come to her door.

Other taunts to the woman included: “You fat w****, I’m going to smash your f*****’ head off walls”, “You f*****’ riot of a lassie” and “Go near my sister again and you and your family will be eating soup”.

Ms Bayne said that when police arrested Murphy, he told them: “I have not contacted her, absolute joke.”

Murphy’s solicitor, Tony Currie, said: “This was a Non-Harassment Order that was introduced as part of another sentence that dates back to May 23, 2017.

You will take from the record that he was in custody at that time and was released from that sentence on November 11, 2017.

The significance of that is that there is absolutely no issues between November 11 and November 28, which was the time of these events.

He had found employment and found a new relationship.

“There are references [in the report] to Mr Murphy’s attitude to social services. Mr Murphy is aware that his behaviour, comments and messages are obnoxious and will be viewed as such by this court, and that the threats would have been concerning.

It does seem to have been triggered after a year by him entering another relationship.

“He was under the influence of alcohol, which is clearly a factor in these events. He takes full responsibility. It is crystal clear he will not be allowed to see his children.

“The report is – dare I say – not beneficialto Mr Murphy.

"This reflects his previous conduct towards the complainer and there’s no getting away from that.

"There was one comment about the Caledonia Programme. That has been raised by himself, as he puts it “to break patterns”.

"Certainly, he accepts the situation he is in.”

Sheriff Scott Pattison said: “The nature of this offence sir combined with your record means that the court has no other realistic option than to send you to jail for a period.”

Murphy was jailed for 18 months, backdated to January 21 of this year. He was also placed on another Non-Harassment Order upon his release prohibiting him from approaching or contacting his ex for four years.