A convicted stabber has admitted making a threatening phone call to a witness – from behind bars.

Aaron Joines, 34, of Walker Road, Banbury, was said by prosecutors to have made around 15 calls from HMP Bullingdon between April and June last year. The calls were recorded by the authorities.

Although the defendant pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, he did so on a basis. That basis of plea accepted a number of calls had been made, but suggested he genuinely believed the evidence that resulted in his conviction last year was ‘incorrect’. He acknowledged he ‘crossed the line’ in one of the calls.

READ MORE: Man stabbed in 'nasty and vicious' Twyford attack

Judge Michael Gledhill QC set the case down for a Newton Hearing next month, when a judge will listen to the recorded prison calls and decide on what basis Joines should be sentenced.

Last year, Joines was given a two year suspended sentence by Recorder John Hardy QC after he was found guilty of wounding his mother’s former partner with a Swiss Army Knife.

The judge who sentenced him described the stabbing in Twyford on November 2, 2020, as a ‘nasty, unprovoked and vicious attack’. The victim said his life was ‘ruined’ by the incident.

However, he was spared an immediate prison sentence as he had done the equivalent of a 26-month sentence on remand and had organised himself a place at a drug rehabilitation facility in the south west.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward