Thug wrongly threatened Leeds restaurant owner over £10,000 drug debt and sent chilling video of a gun

In what a judge called an “extremely frightening” episode for the victim, Karl Anthony Hale made numerous phone calls to the man over the period of a week in 2020, even turning up at his home and place of work.

Leeds Crown Court was told that 41-year-old Hale and another male were first parked outside the man’s address in Leeds on August 22 in a red van. When approached by the victim’s wife, they said they were looking for her husband, before driving off.

He then received 12 calls over the day with the man telling the terrified victim: “You owe me £10,000, When are you going to pay it back?”

The victim later told police he had never seen Hale before, and had no idea what money was referring to. In the coming days he received more menacing calls, along with pictures of him with his son lifted from Facebook. A video was also sent showing a gun and bullets on a table. Another message read: “If you do not pay the money I will break your door down.”

A WhatsApp message sent also read: “Answer the f****** phone you piece of s***. You have one chance to give me the £10,000.”

The victim contacted the police and the call was traced to Hale as the registered keeper of the number. He was stopped and arrested by police on the M6 in Cumbria months later. He gave no comments during interview.

Prosecutor Richard Walters said it transpired that the victim has a relative with drug convictions and “it seems likely he (the victim) was the wrong person”.

The court was told that Hale, of Wellstone Garth, Bramley, has previous convictions but only for shop thefts and motoring offences.

He was initially charged with blackmail, but this was later downgraded to harassment, to which he pleaded guilty. Mitigating, Adam Watkins said of Hale: “This was a nasty course of conduct in which he played a substantial part. It will have caused the complainant real fear.

"He was being used as a conduit for others, he was relaying threats. It was not particularly sophisticated because he was using a telephone registered to himself. He is a rather unlikely enforcer.

"He has no previous convictions for the use or threat of violence. He got into this position and agreed to go along with this behaviour because of his own misuse of cannabis.”

He said that Hale’s partner was expecting their child, he had reduced his own drug use and had remorse for his behaviour.

Judge Simon Batiste told Hale: “What you engaged in was a serious catalogue of conduct with the complainant to ask for money. It must have been extremely frightening for him for him what took place.”

He gave him a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, along with 150 hours of unpaid work and a 10-year restraining order to keep him away from the victim.