An alcoholic woman subjected her on-off boyfriend to months of hell, including false assault allegations and threats of violence.
Faye O’Neill, 28, barraged Tom Turner-Bibby with hundreds of calls from withheld numbers, once even borrowing a bus driver’s phone to demand he pick her up.
She made repeated vague threats to “fuck him up”, alluding to Albanian drug dealers, and turned up at the hotel he was living in.
O’Neill, of Hardwick Road, Hove, was due to be sentenced for stalking and sending threats at Hove Crown Court yesterday.
But after hearing she was three months pregnant, Judge Joshua Swirsky decided to defer sentencing for ten months so her baby would not be born in prison.
He warned her that if she continued to contact Mr Turner-Bibby, she would be sent back behind bars.
Prosecuting, Naomi Edwards said the pair had been in a relationship from 2022 until 2024, when O’Neill was convicted of controlling and coercive behaviour.
She was given a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for five years, and a restraining order forbidding her to contact both Turner-Bibby and his parents.
But this did not stop her, and she was convicted of breaching the order three times, in December 2024, February 2025 and November 2025.
However, in the meantime the pair reconciled, and Mr Turner-Bibby asked for the restraining order to be withdrawn.
Ms Edwards said: “She was writing threats on his window in ketchup and making threats about what she would say about him to the police.
“The complainant described the relationship as an on-off one. He makes reference to her drinking. She said she would stop drinking when she was released from prison but it became an issue again fairly quickly.”
She said in January this year, he eventually threw her out and it was then she started barraging him with calls.
She called to say she was in hospital, having been beaten up by her cousin, and asked him to give a witness statement even though he hadn’t seen anything.
When he refused, she said she would tell police he had assaulted her – a threat she carried out and he was arrested soon after.
He was able to prove he was with his father, and he was released. The calls continued, on average 10-15 a day for the next two to three months, until she was arrested. She has been in custody since.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Turner-Bibby said he had lost friends and even a job because of the constant calls and her turning up at his home and his work.
He said every time she had been released from custody, she had got worse.
He said: “When she drinks, she changes and she’s abusive. I hope she gets the help she needs.”
Defending, Christopher Prior said: “Since the pregnancy, she has stayed away from alcohol and drugs. She has emergency accommodation from the council being held for her if she is released today.
“The father of the child is her new partner, not the complainant. He’s with her and supporting her.”
Judge Swirsky said: “The reason I’m doing this is that you are pregnant and I don’t want to jeopardise the health of your unborn child.
“Your offence clearly passes the custody threshold and if you weren’t pregnant I would be seriously considering imposing a custodial sentence .
“You were before me back in December and I was assured that everything would go well between you and Mr Turner-Bibby. Within a matter of weeks, everything had gone wrong again.
“If I defer sentence I would expect you to promise me three things – one, to stay away from Mr Turner-Bibby, two, to stay at the address given to the court, and three to keep away from alcohol.”
O’Neill said she would definitely stay sober, adding: “I want to go to AA meetings if I get out. In the long term, that’s something I was doing in prison and I find it really helps.”
Judge Swirsky deferred her sentence until 13 March, 2027.
What a troubled relationship. Poor fella.