Controlling Kettering bully told pregnant partner he'd shoot her in the stomach

A Kettering bully told his pregnant partner that he’d shoot her in the stomach so that she and her unborn baby would die.

Kurt Starnes made the chilling comment during a five-month campaign of control as well as threatening her with a knife.

The 38-year-old also wouldn’t let her wear makeup or see a close friend before she plucked up the courage to contact the police.

Yesterday (Monday) Starnes – who went on to pressure his victim to retract her statement from prison – was jailed for just over three years.

Prosecutor Caroline Bray told Northampton Crown Court that Starnes was controlling towards his then-partner in Kettering between September 2022 and February 2023.

During the course of the relationship he would threaten suicide to stop her from leaving him, would remove or damage her phone to stop her from calling police, wouldn’t allow her to wear makeup if she wanted to go out, called her degrading names and stopped her from seeing a close friend.

Starnes also grabbed her arms and legs, causing bruising, and threatened her with a knife.

His victim was pregnant with his child when she contacted police about his behaviour. On one occasion he had said: “I am going to kill you and your baby. I will shoot you in the stomach so that you and your baby die.”

In another incident Starnes told his victim: “If you mug me off again I will kill you. That’s the truth, you will get your head kicked in.”

The court heard that, after reporting Starnes to the police, his victim did not feel able to continue with her pregnancy.

Ms Bray said: “She simply did not want the link with Starnes.”

Sentencing, His Honour Judge John Head told Starnes: “The tragedy is that she felt she had no choice but to not carry on with the unborn child.

"That speaks volumes of the effect you had on her.”

The bully, formerly of both Kettering and Northampton, was arrested in February and remanded in custody but contacted his victim from prison to try and get her to drop the allegations.

The court heard he used his grandmother to make contact with her – assigning her a false name as he knew the prison would not allow him to phone his victim.

Starnes, who appeared over videolink from HMP Peterborough, told his victim that him being in custody was hurting everyone and that she would only get a suspended sentence if she admitted lying about his crimes.

Ms Bray said that as a result of the pressure the victim retracted her statement by text because she felt ‘she had no choice’, but didn’t want to.

Starnes went on to plead guilty to engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour and, before he had been charged over his conduct from prison, was released from custody by a judge who deferred his sentence to give him a chance to prove himself.

But weeks later he went on to sexually assault a woman he did not know, touching her bottom without consent, before attempting to sexually assault her again.

Starnes – who has previous convictions for assault, supplying drugs and threats to kill – then admitted further charges of perverting the course of justice, sexual assault and attempted sexual assault.

Mitigating, Will Forber-Heyward said Starnes is an enhanced prisoner, attending courses and helping others, and understands that he needs help.

He said: “He understands that he has caused a lot of pain, suffering and distress.”

Mr Forber-Heyward added that Starnes wants to address his issues and behaviour.

He said: “He would like to close this particular chapter and leave prison as a better person.”

Starnes was jailed for a total of 37 months and was made subject to a restraining order banning him from contacting his former partner or entering her street.