A BOYFRIEND threatened to stab another man in the groin because he suspected him of making approaches to his girlfriend, York Crown Court heard.

Lee Gillespie, 40, persistently phoned his possible love rival, went to his place of work and visited his parents’ address, said Paul Newcombe, prosecuting.

When the parents told Gillespie their son wasn’t there, he waited outside in his car and, when the mother went out to tell him he was upsetting her, said: “I am going to stab him in the groin where it hurts.”

Gillespie, 40, of Maltbys Grove, Copmanthorpe, York, admitting harassing the other man, though he denies making threats against him.

Judge Robert Bartfield told him: “I do believe you were making threats to this man. Had you come across him, goodness knows what would have happened.

“You are someone who, when he feels offended, completely over-reacts and loses control of yourself.”

He gave Gillespie a six-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months on condition he is supervised during the suspension. He must also pay £100 prosecution costs.

Gillespie has a long history of offences including offences for violence, the court heard.

Robert Stevenson, defending, said Gillespie accepted he over-reacted and behaved badly.

He said Gillespie’s partner had told him the other man had made sexual approaches to her, and he got upset when the other man rang her mobile phone in the early hours.

But the harassment had only lasted for a day, said Mr Stevenson, and ended when Gillespie was himself threatened by a third man carrying a wheel brace.

The court was told that Gillespie had mental health problems caused by his drug abuse in his past that could have been caused by his difficult childhood and upbringing.