A man who threatened to burn down two family hubs and left abusive messages for social workers has been jailed for almost three years.
Jamie Wilkinson made the threats to his probation worker when a contact session with his child was cancelled because of an incident with an Aldi security guard.
After probation alerted Brighton and Hove City Council, it made the decision to close Whitehawk Family Hub and Portslade Hub for two days and the two social workers were given escorts to and from work.
Yesterday, Brighton Crown Court heard victim impact statements from the social workers, Megan McLoone and and Elena Campbell.
Ms Campbell said: “The threats had a profound effect on my life, both personal and professional. They made me feel fearful, anxious and upset that someone wanted to burn the building down with me in it.
“We are working hard to look after families, including Jamie’s own. My job is to keep children safe.
“My own family are worried about my safekeeping and would meet me at the car so I would feel safe walking home.”
Ms McLoone said: “This had a massive impact and disruption on our social services. It’s a scary threat.
“I would be very scared and intimidated if I bumped into him. It’s made me feel a lot more on edge.”
Prosecuting, Gareth Burrows said during calls to his probation worker, Wilkinson initially made threats to kill himself, which prompted a 999 call.
He then became angry an ambulance had been called, and said: “Trust me, trust me, I’m going to go and get some petrol and burn down social services.
Mr Burrows said: “A 999 call was made and the threats taken seriously.
“Two social workers were escorted to and from their cars during that time period. The head of service was very worried for the safety of staff and other users of the Whitehawk Hub, which included a primary school.
“They decided they would not be able to manage the risk and closed both Whitehawk Hub and Portslade Hub, which Wilkinson had previously attended. It caused huge disruption to staff and hundreds of residents.”
Wilkinson, 31, was arrested on Wednesday, 12 November and has remained in custody since. The offices were closed on Thursday, 13 November in case he was released on bail by Brighton Magistrates Court at his first hearing that day, and the following day because by the time the council learnt the outcome of the hearing, arrangements had already been made to close.
Defending, Jordan Franks said at the time of the incident, Wilkinson had been misdiagnosed by mental health services, but had since been diagnosed with a range of disorders including schizophrenia and was responding better to new medication.
He said: “In explaining the nuance of what he said during the conversations with probation, it was the use of the words ‘trust me, trust me’ when he issued the threat to burn down the premises.
“It was explained to him the importance of those words to prove the intention behind the threat. It took three visits in custody but the penny dropped – and that was after he began taking his new medication.
“He is someone who has turned a corner.”
Mr Franks added: “When he received the news he could no longer have that contact session with his child, he reacted incredibly badly to that. It appeared to him those who were there to initiate contact had turned on him.
“He apologises and he’s extremely remorseful.”
He also said Wilkinson had been attacked in prison after officers wrongly thought he was charged with sexually assaulting children, and other prisoners were told the same.
Sentencing, Adrian Chaplin said he would take into account Wilkinson’s new diagnosis and his early guilty pleas, but also his previous convictions for similar offences including threats and criminal damage.
He sentenced him to 32 months for the threats, and three months each for the charges of malicious communications towards the social workers, to run concurrently.
He also imposed a restraining order preventing Wilkinson from contacting either of the social workers directly or indirectly for five years.
