JUSTIN LEE COLLINS JAILED FOR EMOTIONAL ABUSE OF EX-PARTNER
The comedian and presenter Justin Lee Collins was found guilty of harassing his former partner Anna Larke by a jury at St Albans crown court.Collins, aged 38 from Kew, south-west London, was sentenced to 140 hours of unpaid community work over the next 18 months and ordered to pay £3,500 in prosecution costs.
The court heard that Collins subjected Larke, also 38, to a 'campaign of abuse' throughout their seven-month relationship.
Larke claimed Collins forced her to write down in a notebook all her previous sexual encounters in graphic detail, compelled her to quit social networking sites, make her sleep facing him, and throw away DVDs featuring attractive actors.
She also alleged that Collins physically attacked her during trips to Miami and New York, but she did not show her bruises to anyone for fear of getting Collins into trouble.
The court was shown a secret recording in which Collins told Larke, 'You bring the fucking demon out in me' and called her a 'fucking slag,' also making racist remarks about her having sex with 'blacks' and 'chinks.' Collins denied the allegations, asserting that he was in 'absolute hell' during the relationship but had never hit anyone and was un racist.
Despite the severity of the allegations, the judge sentenced him to community service instead of jail, citing his behavior as a 'very serious matter' and emphasizing that any violence in a relationship breaches trust.
Larke and her family expressed satisfaction with the verdict, and campaigners called for emotional abuse to be properly recognized in law.
Police and advocacy groups echoed concerns that the lenient sentence sent the wrong message about domestic violence, which they stressed includes emotional and psychological abuse.
Collins did not react during the verdict but left the court without comment.
The case has raised awareness about the manipulative potential of high-profile individuals in domestic abuse situations.
