A MAN jailed for stalking and making a threat to kill contacted the victim on the very day that he was released from prison.

Ethan Keating contacted the woman on Christmas Eve by Facebook messenger, and then contacted her mother in the early hours of Christmas Day.

Keating, 21, formerly of Princess Drive in Colwyn Bay but who had on his release moved into the Plas y Wern Bail Hostel at Ruabon, Wrexham, appeared from custody at a special weekend sitting of North East Wales Magistrates’ Court at Mold and admitted two charges of breaching a restraining order, placed upon him in May last year at Mold Crown Court.

An application for bail was refused and magistrates remanded him in custody and sent him back to Mold Crown Court for sentence on January 24. Magistrates said that he had contacted the two women as soon as he was released.

The women needed to be protected and they could not, in all consciousness, rebail him, they said.

Keating said he wished to apologise but when he was remanded in custody he hurled abuse at the bench, and said he hoped the chairman died.

Magistrates did not take any action for a potential contempt of court and defending solicitor Amy Shearer apologised on his behalf.

Prosecutor Nicola Wyn Williams applied for a remand in custody and said that the first breach occurred on the very day he was released from his prison sentence.

In May last year he was jailed and a restraining order was made and he was released on Christmas Eve, she explained.

He went to the bail hostel but that day contacted the victim of the stalking offence via Facebook messenger saying “it is too late to say sorry.”

The defendant then apologised, said he was joking and told her to block him, and added: “I cannot go back to prison.”

At 3.10am on Christmas Day he contacted her mother on messenger saying “why are you on my Facebook? ha ha ha.”

It was reported to the police and he was arrested.

Interviewed, he said he did not realise he could not contact her mother.

But he denied contacting the victim claiming he had left his phone unattended and that someone else must have created the Facebook profile and contacted her.

However, he pleaded guilty at his first court appearance.

Miss Shearer said that while there were two charges which he admitted she stressed that there had been no threats made.

She suggested that he be bailed back to the probation hostel so that a pre-sentence report could be prepared for the magistrates’ court next week.

But magistrates said that he would be remanded in custody pending his sentence in the crown court.