Ellesmere Port man jailed for harassing his ex-partner

A man has been jailed for over five and a half years for harassing his ex-partner and threatening to set her home on fire.

Gary Edwards, of Hyde Close, Great Sutton, appeared at Chester Crown Court on 1 August 2024, where he was jailed for five and a half years after pleading guilty to threats to damage property and harassment.

The 30-year-old also pleaded guilty to supplying a psychoactive substance.

During his court hearing, it was heard that in October 2022 Cheshire Police officers attended the home of a 32-year-old woman in Ellesmere Port to speak to her regarding a threat she and her partner, a 34-year-old man, had received earlier that day. 

Officers discovered that Edwards had approached the couple earlier that day and hurled a torrent of verbal abuse at them, goading the victim's partner to try and hit him. He further threatened that he was going to blow the house up.

Edwards was then arrested at his home in relation to this incident, with officers also finding a substantial amount of drug paraphernalia, such as cash, scales and zip lock bags, within the address. He would later be bailed with several conditions.

Officers then spoke to the victim, who detailed both historical domestic abuse, including threats of violence, alongside Edwards' continued efforts to trace the address she lived in with her children.

She went on to say that Edwards' abuse began very early on into their relationship. This abuse included regular assaults that involved grabbing her by the throat, punching and kicking her and destroying her possessions such as her clothing and her damaging her car.

It was also heard that she was, on several occasions, locked out of her own home by Edwards. She would tell officers of one incident that involved her being shut in her garage for nearly two hours by Edwards whilst she was heavily pregnant.

Officers were then provided with threads of abusive messages sent by Edwards to the victim, dating between 2017 and 2021 that included demeaning remarks, telling her what she cannot do or tell people, direct threats of assault, demanding money from her and that she answers his phone calls. The victim also kept a diary containing key dates of abuse in 2020 and 2021 that was crucial in the investigation into Edwards' harassment.

Edwards also tried to find out the victim’s home address and made threats to burn the house down.

He was subsequently rearrested and charged and set to go to trial in July of 2024, but at the last minute he pleaded guilty to threats to damage or destroy property, harassment and the supplying of a psychoactive substance.

Following his sentencing in August 2024, Edwards was also handed an indefinite restraining order.

The officer from the Constabulary's Western CID team who led the investigation into Edwards' offending, said:

"To be subjected to a prolonged campaign of torment and abuse such as the victim in this case did is truly abhorrent, and I welcome the sentence handed to Edwards who is now facing the consequences of his actions.

“Thanks to the courage and bravery of the victim in coming forward to police, Edwards will now be spending the foreseeable future behind bars and will remain the subject of a restraining order indefinitely, bringing his abuse to a conclusion.”

Pictured - Gary Edwards of Hyde Close in Great Sutton.