Harrogate man spared jail for "vile" emotional, mental and physical abuse of ex-partner

Bradley Gresham, 27, systematically punched, kicked and slapped the beleaguered victim whom he isolated from her family and friends and turned into a “broken shell” of a woman, York Crown Court heard.

He also “smashed up” her home, told her whom she could and couldn’t see and dictated her social-media circle, said prosecutor Sam Roxborough.

Gresham and his now-ex partner started a relationship in September 2019 after which he effectively moved into her home in Rowan Close, Harrogate, but within a few months he became abusive.

The victim was bombarded with vile text messages and deeply offensive name-calling, said Mr Roxborough.

“He would stop her seeing family and friends and (there were) regular outbursts due to his bad temper,” added the prosecuting barrister.

In March 2020, during the first national Covid lockdown, Gresham was “spending more time” at the victim’s house and “his controlling behaviour worsened”.

Early on in the relationship, the victim, a mother-of-four, called police out to her home after Gresham “kicked off and smashed things in her house”.

He also hid her mobile phone.

Terrified, she fled the house, and on her return, she found that her home had been “destroyed”.

Gresham, formerly of Harrogate, banned her from seeing her sister and regularly went through her phone messages and “demanded she deleted certain friends from social media”.

“In July 2020, she moved to Skipton with him reluctantly (after) he assured her it would improve their relationship, but it took her far away from Harrogate where she had grown up and further from family and friends,” said Mr Roxborough.

It was after moving to Skipton that Gresham then began physically abusing her.

“He would push her into door frames and kick at the back of her legs,” added Mr Roxborough.

During one incident in August 2020, he slapped her on the head and punched her in the mouth, causing a split lip which bled.

It was after this incident that she moved out, but at that stage she decided not to involve police.

She was rehoused in council accommodation in Knaresborough but decided to give the relationship another go.

She returned to their shared home, but the verbal abuse and poisonous messages resumed immediately.

In one of the text messages, Gresham told her to “go (and) die”.

In another, he told her “I’ll spit at you”.

In another violent incident, he punched her four times in the head, causing swelling and bruising, and then wouldn’t let her go to hospital for treatment.

“She remembers thinking he could have killed her,” said Mr Roxborough.

Gresham, a cannabis user, later told her she “deserved it for pissing him off”.

In February 2021, on the day she finally decided to leave him after “daily” abuse, he locked her out of the house before driving off in his work van.

He later threatened to “smash her face in”.

She continued to receive abusive messages but this time she went to the police to report Gresham, who initially denied all accusations.

Gresham, now of Bedale Road, Aiskew, was charged with using controlling and coercive behaviour against the victim and ultimately admitted the offence.

He appeared for sentence yesterday (March 16).

The victim described Gresham as a “monster of a human being” who had “traumatised my life” through his “physical, mental and emotional” abuse.

This had had led to “severe” depression and anxiety and physical conditions including “extreme fatigue and chronic pain”.

She said she was an “outgoing, confident, happy soul” before she met Gresham, but she was now a “broken shell of what I once was” who no longer socialised with friends and had become effectively housebound.

She was left feeling “worthless, like I didn’t deserve to live”.

She said that when she finally left Gresham, she had “nothing: no home, no job, no clothes, no friends”.

Gresham had three previous convictions for offences including drink-driving and breaching a domestic-violence protection order in respect of another former partner.

The latter offence occurred just months after the victim of his controlling behaviour had left him.

Defence barrister Emily Hassell said that since the abhorrent offences, which occurred over a period of about 15 months, Gresham had made efforts to change his “approach to life” and was in a new, “extremely settled” relationship which had had a “significant” positive effect on him.

Judge Deborah Sherwin said Gresham’s behaviour was “totally vile”, but she also noted that it took two years for the case to reach court and that since the offences his behaviour had “taken a turn for the better”.

She said had the case been prosecuted much earlier, there was “every chance” that Gresham would have been going to prison, but she was prepared to give him a chance “solely because you have turned a corner”.

Gresham was given a 20-month jail sentence but this was suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work and take part in a 30-session Building Better Relationships programme.

He was also ordered to complete a 30-day rehabilitation course and a six-month drug-rehabilitation programme and slapped with a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting the victim directly and going to her home.