A man who sent more than 100 threatening messages to his mother within weeks of his father dying has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Rushi Patel told his mother she was a “dumb b*tch” and that he would wipe out her and her entire family “from the pages of history”, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

He also said his father was no longer around to protect her and that any blood relative was in danger.

He also said his mother would die slowly and would suffer.

The court heard that Patel’s father died on December 1 2023 and he had sent threatening messages to his mother two days after the funeral in early January this year.

Sentencing Patel on Monday, Judge Martyn Levett said he had caused his mother to believe he would carry out the threats.

Patel, 43, of East Street, Colchester, admitted making a threat to kill his mother and sending a malicious communication in January this year.

He was given a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years, a 120-day alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement, a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was also banned from contacting his mother for ten years and was banned from going to St Mary’s Fields, St John’s Road and Orchard Gardens in Colchester.

The court heard that Patel had sent the messages after he’d been drinking and that he’d been venting his anger about the way family matters had been treated.