A JEALOUS stalker threatened to slit the throat of his ex-partner “from ear to ear”.

James Atkinson bombarded a woman with more than 50 abusive messages after she ended their relationship.

In one message he mocked her daughter and said: “I hope she dies in front of you.”

The 24-year-old thug was in breach of a restraining order after he had stalked the hairdresser at her workplace in Brighton.

When police tried to arrest him in Spring Street, he jumped out of a fourth-floor window, landing on a car below while the shocked owner Robert Rawat was sat behind the wheel.

The impact caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage.

Hove Crown Court was told that he was “abusive and controlling”, keeping his then partner away from her friends and family, and constantly accusing her of being unfaithful.

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He had previously been convicted for domestic violence against another partner in 2016, after he had tried to choke her with a duvet cover.

On Friday he was jailed for a total of two years after admitting harassment, assault, criminal damage, and breaching two suspended prison sentences.

Natasha Dardashti, prosecuting, said Atkinson was convicted for stalking in April last year, but then had a row with her in a graveyard in Brighton in October.

Ms Dardashti said: “She received a phone call from another man

“He became jealous and threatened to break her jaw. He then threw a bottle of water over her then ran off.

“He would be unpleasant to her.

“He was abusive and controlling, keeping her away from her friends and family, and accusing her of sleeping with other men.

“She received a raft of messages which were threatening to slit her throat from ear to ear. 

“He threatened to terrorise her at her place of work, and to upload images to Facebook.”

Some of the vile messages he sent to her after she told him it was over were read out in court.

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He wrote: “Keep ignoring me you fat whore.

“I’m going to throttle you.

“Don’t play with my head or I will turn f****** nasty.

“Your daughter looks like she has Downs Syndrome.

“I hope your downie daughter dies in front of you.

“Your granddad is getting riddled with cancer.

“Is he dead yet?”

Sarah Thorne, defending, said Atkinson had a troubled time as a teenager after losing his parents.

She asked the judge to suspend the prison sentence because he had previously completed rehabilitation sessions and had made good progress since being in prison.

But Mr Recorder Paul Bowen QC said the offences were too serious for a suspended sentence.

He said Atkinson’s luck had run out when his victim had been brave enough to show up to court to give evidence at his trial in December.

Atkinson changed his plea and admitted the offences before the trial started.

The judge said Atkinson was “controlling and abusive” and had made it a “toxic” relationship.