A “jealous” former boyfriend who threatened to kill the mother of his child in a mobile phone message was jailed for a year yesterday.

Chae Foggo sent a series of abusive messages to Danyelle Ible, denigrating her and saying: “Let me see you, I’m going to kill you.”

Acting Justice Shade Subair-Williams said the sentence, to be followed by three years’ probation, was intended to deter others from committing similar crimes.

She said: “All the seven previous cases in Bermuda are domestic and are threats made by young men to young women after the end of their relationship.

“In four out of seven cases they shared a child and in most of these cases the accused remarked or implied that he was prepared to go to prison.

“A clear message of deterrence must be sent out at those who are prepared to commit this offence.”

She added: “Domestic violence against women and threats must be taken seriously and women must be encouraged to report these offences and work with the prosecution.”

Justice Subair-Williams said the starting point for the offence was 18 months’ imprisonment, but gave Foggo, a St David’s County Cricket Club player who appeared in St George’s first Cup Match trial of 2017, credit for his guilty plea.

The Supreme Court heard that the couple had been in a relationship between 2011 and 2014 and had a child together. Prosecutor Javone Rogers said the relationship did not end amicably.

The prosecutor added: “The defendant became jealous of the complainant. He sent numerous texts and voicemails to her, threatening to harm her and whoever she was involved with.”

The court heard earlier that Foggo contacted Ms Ible on March 30 to speak to his son, but flew into a rage when he discovered that she was living with another man.

When she ended the conversation, Foggo sent a series of threatening and abusive messages that made her go to a police station.

Foggo, who has been in custody since July 1, apologised to his victim for his actions last Friday.

The father of three said: “This was a conversation that happened in the heat of the moment, when I made a silly mistake. I want to sincerely apologise to my child’s mother.”

His lawyer, Charles Richardson, argued that his client should be sentenced to the time he had already served on remand.

Mr Richardson also criticised the way the charge of making threats to kill was dealt with in the Bermuda courts.

He said: “All seven cases that have been brought before the courts in Bermuda have been dealt with in the Supreme Court, unlike other jurisdictions.

“The charge is indictable only. Our Criminal Code has not been touched in this area; we still have the old, archaic law.

“It’s almost like we pluck sentences from out of the air — they have never been tested by law.

“They are so arbitrary; we should look at it and how it is dealt with in other jurisdictions.”

Mr Richardson referred to cases in England and Australia, and maintained that Foggo had acted in the heat of the moment.

UPDATE: this article has been amended to correct that Chae Foggo was a St David’s County Cricket Club player at the time of the offence

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