ABUSER WHO LEFT VICTIM IN ‘CONSTANT FEAR’ FOR EIGHT YEARS JAILED
A spokesperson for Surrey Police stated that a 29-year-old man received a sentence of seven years and two months, along with a restraining order that remains in effect until further notice, following his repeated abuse of a woman within a domestic setting.Ernie Jones, aged 29 and born on December 27, 1996, who resides in Godalming, was court-ordered at Guildford Crown Court on April 10, 2026.
He was found guilty of two charges of controlling and coercive behaviour, as well as actual bodily harm and stalking that caused the victim to fear violence.
The police responded on May 20, 2025, to a residence where they spoke with a woman who revealed she had endured eight years of both physical and psychological abuse in her domestic relationship.
“Between 1 January 2017 and 11 June 2025, Jones engaged in behaviour that was controlling or coercive, causing serious effect to the victim.
Throughout this period, the victim was subjected to physical assault on multiple occasions.
“Jones's behaviour would include punching and kicking the victim in the face, stamping on the victim's head, threatening the victim with a knife, damaging the victims property, including her phone, verbal abuse, preventing the victim from seeing their children, threatening to take the children away or put them into care and making false reports of child neglect to social services.
“In an incident on 23 February 2025, Jones assaulted the victim resulting in actual bodily harm.
On this occasion, Jones was driving the victim's car, whist she was sat in the passenger seat with their two young children in the back.
Following a disagreement over brambles to the side of the road causing damage to the vehicle, Jones began beating the victim whilst stopped at traffic lights.
“Jones was arrested on 21 May 2025 and released on conditional bail.
Between 19 May and 10 June, Jones was in breach of these conditions on several occasions, with repeated unwanted contact amounting to a charge for stalking.
“Throughout this period, his behaviour - namely including frequent communication, attending family home unannounced, contacting family members and making threats - continued to cause the victim serious distress.
Reflecting on the abuse, the survivor shared: "For eight years, I lived under Ernie's control and abuse.
This was not a misunderstanding.
It was not a handful of isolated incidents.
It was a deliberate and repeated pattern of behaviour, choices he made, that slowly and systematically stripped away my independence, my confidence, and my sense of who I was.
"I lived in constant fear.
Fear of his moods, fear of his reactions, fear of saying the wrong word or making the wrong decision.
I was always walking on eggshells.
"Over time, I stopped feeling like a person in my own right.
I felt like I existed only to serve Ernie, to meet his needs before my own, to keep him calm, to prevent his anger.
I felt like a slave in my own life, constantly catering to my partner out of fear of what would happen if I did not.
I felt worthless and degraded.
"The house we lived in was never truly my home.
Instead of feeling safe and settled, I felt like a guest in a place where I had no real security or control.
Home should be somewhere you feel safe, protected, and valued.
Instead, I felt small, unwelcome, and constantly on edge of when I would next get thrown out.
"One of the deepest pains I carry is the impact this has had on my children.
They saw the fear in me.
They saw my distress.
They saw me withdraw emotionally because I was trying to survive.
As their mother, that breaks my heart.
"This abuse has changed me forever.
It has changed my children forever and our lives will never be the same.
"Since leaving the relationship, and rebuilding our lives, I have had to create stability for my children while still healing myself and trying to navigate who I am as an individual.
It has been exhausting and frightening at times, but I am determined that their future will be different from our past.
I am working every day to show them that was not love, that control is not care, and that no one has the right to manipulate another person.
"I am determined to heal, rebuild and move forward.
But the reality is that the impact of all these years will never fully leave me." "I am truly grateful for the support and dedication shown throughout this case.
The efforts of both the police and the outreach team have made a meaningful difference, they have saved me.
I am especially thankful for my allocated outreach worker and DA caseworker whose care, commitment, and support have meant so much every step of the way, I don't know what I would have done without them"
