Swansea man jailed for threatening ex’s new partner via LinkedIn

A Swansea man who struggled to accept his ex-wife had moved on bombarded her new partner with sinister threats via LinkedIn, telling him he had associates “watching his every move”, a court has heard.

Robert Stanier, 40, contacted the man through the professional networking site, warning him: “I’m going to destroy you” and “I’m waiting for the right time to bring your world down.”

Swansea Crown Court heard that Stanier and his former partner had been in a relationship for nine years before separating in 2020. Prosecutor Dean Pulling said the woman then “moved on with her life”, something the defendant “had difficulty accepting”.

The court heard Stanier was given a suspended sentence and made subject to a restraining order in 2024 after being convicted of harassing his ex-partner and her new boyfriend.

However, in November this year, the defendant began calling and sending messages to his ex before contacting her new partner via LinkedIn. He told the man he was in contact with “Scousers and Midland Crew” and warned: “The Scousers are watching your every move.”

The messages were reported to police, who spoke to Stanier over the phone before he later walked into Swansea Central police station. Officers subsequently returned to his Warwick Place home in West Cross to search for his mobile phone and discovered knuckledusters inside the property.

The 40-year-old defendant gave “largely ‘no comment’ answers” when interviewed but told officers he had found the knuckleduster in his flat when he moved in and had been using it as a bottle opener.

In a statement read to court, the defendant’s ex said she does not feel safe as Stanier breaches the conditions of the restraining order and cannot accept that she has moved on. Her new partner said Stanier was unpredictable and he was worried about what he would do.

Stanier, originally from Stoke, had previously pleaded guilty to two breaches of a restraining order and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place. He has two previous convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and harassment.

Defence solicitor Samuel Jenkins said the offending happened some 12 months into the currency of the restraining order. He added that the defendant had completed an electrician’s course at college and was hoping to secure an apprenticeship.

Judge Catherine Richards sentenced Stanier to four months in prison and activated nine months of his previously imposed suspended sentence to run consecutively, making an overall sentence of 13 months in prison. The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.