OFFENDER JASON REID JAILED FOR DOMESTIC ABUSE AND ONLINE PREDATION
A MONSTER who has been jailed for battering his girlfriend was brazenly using the dating app he met her on to prowl for new women as he stood trial.Jason Reid, 39, was last week sentenced to six months in prison for two horrific attacks on his 38-year-old girlfriend, who he met on the Bumble app.The engineer, who describes himself as a musician and music producer on dating sites to impress women, was jailed by magistrates who called the domestic abuse case 'the worst they have ever seen'.At Stratford Magistrates Court, Reid was found guilty of beating his girlfriend and smashing her phone and her house after flying into a rage on two occasions.The victim was "covered head-to-toe in bruises" after Reid lashed out when she laughed at a pink blanket he brought to her house on the weekend he was to move in on March 9 this year.He demanded an apology, then started punching and kicking her, threw her to the ground, and landed a heavy box of books on her.She screamed, "You’re going to kill me," but Reid continued by kicking her in the throat and bragging, "I know how to do this without leaving a mark."The woman, terrified, pleaded, "You’re going to kill me," as Reid continued his assault.He took her keys, phone, and handbag, refusing to let her go to work the next day.
Instead, he drove her to Cambridge to stay in a hotel, fearing her former flatmate would see her bruises.
Her boss reported her missing, noting it was "extremely out of character" for her to miss work.She described her experience: “I just kept crying.
I was scared and I wasn’t thinking about anything.
He had my phone, keys - everything.
I just wanted to appease him because he was so angry, and I also didn't want my friend to see me."The police were contacted after she arrived at work in a state of distress.
She said, “The police came and spoke to me, and they just said ‘this is out of your hands now, he’s being arrested’.”Reid was also accused of "systematically preying on women" on various dating apps, including Bumble and Tinder, during his trial.
A former friend, Elizabeth, who met Reid on Guardian Soulmates, described him as someone who "systematically uses dating apps to prey on women who earn well and live alone." She stated, "It makes me feel sick that he’s been using these apps to hunt for new women while on trial for such an awful thing.”Other victims included women he attacked in Stoke Newington and Sussex, for which he received additional jail sentences.
He was sentenced to 18 weeks for attacking a woman and smashing her flat, and eight weeks for punching another woman during an argument, with an additional £2,100 in damages.
Magistrate Tony McSean described the case as "the worst he has seen," and Reverend Abraham Lawrence emphasized that "a custodial sentence is the only appropriate action."After sentencing, the woman stated: “The whole thing feels so surreal – you always think ‘things like this don’t happen to me’, but they do and it has.
I’d never use a dating app again.
I don’t want to be someone who is scared but I couldn’t do it.” She credited police and domestic violence support officers, urging others in similar situations to seek help.
Elizabeth warned about the "red flags" she missed, recognizing now that Reid had manipulated and preyed on women who live alone and earn well.Bumble responded by stating that Reid was removed from their platform and banned from creating profiles again, emphasizing their commitment to user safety and zero tolerance for harassment or abuse.
