https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-taken-safe-house-after-22942632?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Mirror12at23&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter&ccid=2369561Mum taken to safe house after 'wicked' daughter secretly sent her death threats
Sonya Harris, 39, secretly sent 45 abusive and threatening messages to her mum in May and June earlier this year, leading police to take both women to a safe house
By Michael Mutch
09:34, 2 NOV 2020
A daughter secretly threatened her own mum through abusive texts sent over two months. Sonya Harris, 39, sent 45 abusive and threatening messages to her mum in May and June earlier this year. She called her a “selfish f****** prozzy” who would go “boom boom, bye bye”, Hull Daily Mail reported.
Harris hoped that her mum would think the texts were from her two sons, whom she had fallen out with in the past. She went out of her way to disguise the fact she was sending the messages, some of which threatened her and the victim's grandson, by buying a pay-as-you-go phone. Fearing for their safety, the mum was transferred to a safe house along with Harris and the grandson by police. Initially, the mum believed they came from her two sons and one was arrested in relation to the texts. Her daughter Sonya pretended to sympathise with her mum during this period and was there to support her. The victim was left "sick to her stomach" when police uncovered that it was actually her own "supportive" daughter who was sending the messages. The first message was sent shortly before 8pm on May 31 when Harris wrote: “You selfish f****** prozzy. How much do you charge? You and your girl watch out we know where she lives. We will do you in bang bang.”
A further message on June 1 read “watch out as we see you always” and the texts carried on into June 2 when Harris’ mother decided to leave her home, along with her pregnant granddaughter and great grandson. Harris was the only person who knew where her mum had gone and on June 6 she sent another message. “You can run but you can’t hide,” it read.
“We know where you are. We are ready for you you f***** snitches and grasses. “You are all going under. Boom boom, bye bye.”
Two gun emojis were also used to sign off the text. Police traced a top-up transaction of the phone used to send the texts at a shop close to Harris’ home. CCTV footage showed it was Harris standing at the counter purchasing the top-up. When she was arrested she admitted that it was her who sent the messages. In total, 45 threatening texts were sent to her mother who was in disbelief when she was told the truth by officers. “Being threatened about having my life taken away from me was beyond what I would consider psychotic and has had an impacton my own mental health,” she said in a victim personal statement.
"I’m getting close to retirement age and should enjoy time with my family. "Instead, I am running away from someone I feel I should be safe around. My daughter was the last person I expected to be behind these messages. When I told her about them she seemed supportive. I believed there had to be a mistake. I couldn’t take it in. I was sick to my stomach. I am hurt by what she has done. I keep thinking why she would do this.”
Prosecuting barrister Catherine Kioko-Gilligan told Hull Crown Court that the relationship between Harris and her mum was actually a “loving and supportive” one at the time and that Harris considered her mum to be “her rock”. Ms Kioko-Gilligan added: “The relationship between the complainant and her two sons had been strained and had resulted in police intervention in the past.”
During police interview, Harris admitted to officers that she “wanted her brothers to suffer as she had done during the course of previous family disputes,” said Ms Kioko-Gilligan.
But her mother was not the only one who Harris had sent threatening messages to. In another effort to pit family members against each other Harris sent a message to another woman on June 8. It read: “Hessle Road s****. Well-known prozzies. How much do you charge? Tell that ginger bloke and daft c**** all dead. You start bulls*** we finish it.”
Harris appeared at Hull Crown Court on Friday, October 30, to be sentenced for one count of harassment through fear of violence and a second count of malicious communication. Unrepresented in court, Recorder Menary gave her an opportunity to plead her case before passing sentence. Sobbing in the dock, Harris said: “I am sorry for what I have put people through. I did the worst thing I could have done to hurt my mum and other people. It is not the kind of person I am and I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. It is killing me not seeing my mum. If I could be given a second chance to prove myself because I don’t want to be taken away from my family and my babies.”
Recorder Menary described Harris’ actions as “wicked” and that they had caused “huge damage” to her own family. He added that it had been an “enormous, shocking waste” of police time. Recorded Menary said: “It is clear to me there has been considerable family strain in the past and your mum did not enjoy a good relationship with her two sons. You embarked on a wicked course of conduct. You sent abusive messages to your mother in the hope she would think it was your brothers, hoping to drive a further wedge between them. You sent 45 messages to her threatening considerable harm to her, to you, your daughter and her child. The messages are appalling and abhorrent. Although you say today this offence was out of character and you are truly sorry I agree with the assessment that you have very limited insight to the huge damage you have caused to your own family. You have no insight into the enormous shocking waste of police time and effort in tracking you down.”
However, Harris’ mother stated in her statement she did not wish for her daughter to be sent to prison but rather seek help. Recorder Menary agreed by sentencing Harris to a two-year prison term suspended for two years. A restraining order has also been put in place where she cannot contact her mother for five years.
