Man who subjected ex-partner to ‘campaign of harassment’ has sentence increased

A man who subjected his former partner to a “campaign of harassment” and left her feeling “defeated and hopeless” has had his prison sentence increased at the Court of Appeal.

Jordan Crewe, 27, was jailed for two years in February after admitting harassment, controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intentional strangulation.

The Solicitor General referred Crewe’s sentence to the Court of Appeal as “unduly lenient”, with barristers telling a hearing in London that his offending included secretly activating a tracker on his victim’s phone, biting her face and sending her “degrading” communications.

On Thursday, three senior judges increased Crewe’s sentence to one of two years and 10 months.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, sitting with Mr Justice Goose and Mrs Justice Eady, said that Crewe’s victim claimed she had been diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks due to the offending, and described herself as “a shell of the person she used to be”.

He continued that Crewe’s offences represented a “campaign of denigrating conduct” which was “punctuated by incidents of violence”.

Jennifer Newcomb, for the Solicitor General, told the hearing that Crewe was jailed for 16 months in March 2022 for offences against his former partner, but after being released on licence, barged his way into her home and let down the tyres of her car in October that year.

He was arrested and recalled to prison, but his “campaign of harassment continued” through letters, messages and phone calls.

Controlling behaviour

Upon release in May 2023, Crewe demonstrated coercive and controlling behaviour, which “included persistent messaging, secretly activating a tracker on her phone, threatening suicide, controlling the clothes she wore, groping her breasts and bottom in public and not allowing her to see her family”, Ms Newcomb said.

He also bit her face in December 2024 and intentionally strangled her while she was driving.

Crewe, previously of Caerphilly, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on February 18, but Ms Newcomb said in written submissions that the judge “fell into significant error” by not handing down a longer jail term.

Crewe’s barrister, Vaughan Britton, told the Court of Appeal that the sentence was not unduly lenient and that Crewe’s offending was “against the background of his ADHD diagnosis and his difficult upbringing”.

He said: “Multiple foster placements breaking down when he was younger had an impact on his offending behaviour and the way that he reacts to problems within the relationship.”

But Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said that Crewe “was given every opportunity and did not take it”, and that the new jail term was “the lowest appropriate sentence that could properly have been passed”.

‘Appalling’

Following the ruling, Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP said: “Jordan Crewe’s tirade of abuse against his ex-partner was appalling.

“He carried out a systematic campaign of violence and coercive control, which must have left his victim in a constant state of fear for their safety.

“Thankfully, the court has recognised the severity of Crewe’s actions and increased his sentence, protecting his partner from coming to further harm.

“My thoughts today are with his ex-partner, who was so brave to come forward.”