A man in Thessaloniki faces potential jail time after allegedly arriving intoxicated at his ex-partner’s home and threatening her life in front of their four young children.

The Thessaloniki Plenary Court found him guilty of domestic threats and violating court orders prohibiting contact with the victim. He received an 18-month prison sentence, with six months to be served in custody and the remaining time suspended for three years. The defendant retains the right to appeal and remain free until the appeal is heard.

The incident occurred last Saturday night inside the home where the woman lives with their four children. As she testified to the judges, the defendant arrived intoxicated on the pretext that he wanted to see the children and then began to swear at her and threaten her vulgarly.

“We were partners for 14 years and from the day we separated I was trying to give him a chance to have a good relationship for our children. After the domestic violence court, he was given conditions not to come near me and not to have any contact with me. However, the day before yesterday he came to my house without permission, called me nasty names and threatened to kill me. He even made a gesture with his hand saying he would cut my throat,” the woman said.

With the situation spiraling out of control and the sufferer fearing for her life, she decided to seek help from her mother, who lives in an apartment next door and it was she who alerted the police.

“She followed me to my mother’s house and said she wanted to take the children. He was drunk. There have been many incidents in the past but I was afraid to report him to the police because he said if he went to jail he would kill me or have other people kill me, she added.

For his part, the accused denied in his plea the acts he was accused of and spoke of a revengeful complaint against him.“He made a complaint for the sake of the boyfriend,” he specifically said.

His conviction was also recommended by the prosecutor of the court.