'Cowardly' domestic abuser jailed for attack

A "cowardly" domestic abuser who beat his partner, monitored her movements and sent threatening messages to an innocent man he accused of sleeping with her has been jailed for two years and two months.

Ex-soldier Gavin Calvert, 43, attacked his partner of three years in November 2023 having subjected to her months of abuse, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

His now ex-partner said the trauma of Calvert's actions had been "debilitating", while a judge said he should be "ashamed" of his "ugly" behaviour.

Calvert, of Hylton Road in Jarrow, admitted offences including assault causing actual bodily harm, controlling behaviour and making malicious communications.

Calvert was "extremely jealous" and "paranoid" and had a "delusion" his partner was cheating on him, prosecutor Jemima Stephenson-Finn said.

He kept a diary of her movements, limited her access to friends, monitored her phone use and reviewed her bills to identify who she was calling, the court heard.

Her friends noticed she was less outgoing, had lost weight and showed signs of anxiety, Ms Stephenson-Finn said.

On 15 November, he launched a vicious assault on the woman, who was smaller than him and in her 20s, repeatedly hitting her in the face and leaving her bruised and bloody, Ms Stephenson-Finn said.

Calvert also sent a menacing voice note to the man he believed was sleeping with his partner, the court heard, boasting about his previous conviction for wounding someone, for which he was jailed for six years.

In the message, Calvert said he would "extract information" from the man and also threatened to visit his parents and workplace, adding: "She has betrayed me and you have disrespected me".

When police went to his home, they found illegal knuckle dusters and an extendable baton, as well as knife which Calvert had hung on his bed, Ms Stephenson-Finn said.

In a statement read to the court, Calvert's ex-partner said it was only now she realised how controlling and coercive his behaviour had been, adding: "Family and friends tried to warn me but I was too scared not to comply with his wishes and demands."

She said the "trauma" she had been left with was "debilitating", adding: "I cannot foresee a time when I will be free from the mental abuse he inflicted on me."

The man who received the threatening message said he had lived in fear, adding: "I haven't done anything wrong."

In mitigation, Joe Culley said Calvert had been a soldier in Northern Ireland and Kosovo which had left him with trauma, and he had difficulty in trusting people.

Mr Culley said the father-of-two had also been affected by the death of a long-term partner, after which he had arranged charity events in her memory.

Recorder Geraldine Kelly said Calvert's ex-partner had also lost a partner so he should have been able to "sense the same loss" in her.

Instead he sought to control and abuse her, the court heard.

She said Calvert's record showed he was prepared to use violence in a "cowardly" way, especially against women, and the attack was "extremely terrifying and deeply traumatic" for the victim.

The judge said the threatening voice note sent to the man was "terribly cowardly" and it was "ugly and distressing" to hear Calvert's partner crying out in the background of the message.

Comments Calvert made to the probation service were "typical" of those made by many domestic abusers, the judge said, with Calvert seeking to "minimise" his behaviour and "blame" his victim.

She said after being arrested, Calvert claimed he had to search what controlling and coercive behaviour was, adding: "You had to look up what was obviously an unacceptable way to treat your partner as if you had no moral compass of your own."

The judge said Calvert "should be ashamed" and had set a "terrible example" of what a partner should look like to his young daughters.

Restraining orders banning Calvert from contacting his ex-partner and the man he messaged for five years were also made.

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