Judge orders Blackpool man to prove stage four cancer claim before sentencing for harassment
A judge has ordered a 34-year-old Blackpool man to produce proof he has a life-threatening illness before he sentences him for harassing two dog walkers.
Lee Midgley claimed he had been diagnosed with stage four cancer when he appeared in Preston Crown Court facing a jail term for threatening the couple he met in a local park.
But Judge Richard Gioserano told him he needs to see detailed medical evidence before he decides whether he should send him to prison or show leniency.
He adjourned the sentencing hearing for six weeks and told Midgley to produce confirmation from a cancer specialist that his condition is as serious as he says.
“I am sceptical, very sceptical indeed,” said the judge. “I am not prepared to accept it just from you.”
He told him he must have full medical documentation if he was to consider serious illness in determining an appropriate sentence.
The court was told the two harassment offences followed a dispute between Midgely and a couple he met while walking their dogs in Thornton.
Later that day the man received a phone call, which the couple later discovered was from Midgley, threatening to slash his throat and threatening to rape his wife while forcing the man to watch. He also threatened to kill their pet dog.
Later a takeaway they hadn’t ordered arrived at their house, followed by two taxis sent by Midgley. There were further phone calls in which he said he would get someone to stab the woman and the dog. It was only then that the couple realised who was doing it.
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In all 18 calls made to the couple making threats.
In a victim impact statement the man said the calls and threats had made him anxious and unable to sleep. He was constantly worried about his wife and said he felt unable to leave the house in case something happened.
“It drastically affected me emotionally, physically and socially,” he said.
In her victim statement his wife said she had suffered from stress and anxiety after receiving the calls and felt “extremely sick”.
“I am living in fear every day,” she said. “I am not sleeping. I don’t know what he is capable of. These threats came completely out of the blue.”
Barrister Anthony Parkinson, for Midgley, said his client had no objection to a restraining order being made barring him from making contact of any kind with the couple or going close to their address.
“As far as he (Midgley) is concerned this was an isolated incident restricted to a single day,” he told the judge.
“(It was) as a result of him drinking too much alcohol. He has remorse for what happened.
“He had been told that there had been some issue between (the man) and his partner. But he was full of drink at the time and he behaved in this way
“He is ashamed he has made both victims feel like he did. He is truly sorry for what has happened and for the impact this has had on them.”
Mr Parkinson then talked about Midgley’s “serious health problems” saying he had been living in Spain and had been diagnosed with liver and bowel cancer last December. He had been advised to go back to the UK, so he returned to Blackpool in March.
At the time the offences were committed he was living at the Rushlands Hotel in Thornton.
Judge Gioseranl said: “I am not prepared to sentence (him) on the basis he has a life-threatening condition without medical evidence.”
He adjourned the case to September 19 to allow him to produce the necessary medical proof.
“This is unfortunate not just for you, but let’s not forget there are other people involved in this case as well. Their lives haven’t been the same since you subjected them to serious and disgusting threats.
“You are very much looking at a prison sentence, not doubt about that. That may still happen, but I have to be careful not to sentence you on a false basis.
“If I don’t see those medical (documents) I will come to another conclusion – that you have tried to mislead the court.”