A TEENAGER told hospital staff he was going to kill his ex-girlfriend and her new partner, a court heard.

Jealous Mark Hayden said he had even followed the couple with a knife. The two nurses were so concerned they contacted the police, who arrested Hayden.

The 19-year-old, of East Street, Fareham, had denied two charges of making threats to kill but was found guilty by district judge Anthony Callaway and jailed for 28 days.

He was able to walk free from court having already served 24 days behind bars on remand.

Mental health nurses Katy Whiting and Lianne Fusire told Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court how they had been assessing Hayden in the emergency department at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.

Mrs Whiting told the court that Hayden had been upset, saying his ex-partner had started seeing somebody else.

She said: “He mentioned he’d been out looking for her and her partner with a knife. He’d been out looking for her carrying a knife because he wanted to kill her.”

Reading from her statement, she recalled that during the incident, on June 12, he had said: “I want to smack her one. I want to slice her neck. I want to smash them up. I will do one day.”

She said Hayden knew where the pair were living. Hayden also made threats to harm neighbours in East Street as he said he had been called names and complained of problems with his accommodation, the court heard.

Mrs Whiting said she had concluded that Hayden at the time of the assessment was not suffering from any mental health problems such as depression.

The defence did not dispute that the threats were made but claimed Hayden had never intended to carry them out. Charles Holt, defending, said the custody records had recorded that Hayden had made similar threats to police at Fareham the previous day.

A previous mental health assessment found that Hayden had a history of making up stories to gain attention, said Mr Holt. When asked, Mrs Whiting and Ms Fusire said they were not aware of either of those points or the fact that Hayden has severe learning difficulties.

However, they both said that they would still have reported the matter to the police even with that information.