Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Monday 2 March 2026 by Jill Powell

An abuser who suggested it was a ‘playfight’ that broke his partner’s neck, leaving her paralysed and in need of round the clock care, has been jailed for grievous bodily harm.

Landscape gardener, Robert Easom, 57, was jailed for 16 years plus a four-year extended licence period. He had exercised coercive control over his partner, being loving one minute and lashing out verbally and physically the next.

On 17 February 2025, Easom’s partner tried to end the relationship. In response, Easom carried out a violent assault culminating in him pushing down on his partner’s head with such force that he broke her neck.

Alison Wolstenholme of the Crown Prosecution Service said:

“In a fit of rage, Robert Easom pushed his partner’s head down with such force that he broke her neck – changing her life forever.

“After years of coercive control, where he assaulted her, belittled her, tormented her and deliberately frightened her, he carried out a brutal assault when she tried to end the relationship.

“He attempted to evade responsibility for his actions, telling various lies about how his partner became injured. Later, he accepted causing the injuries which left the woman paralysed from the chest down, but claimed that he did not intend to cause serious harm. The evidence did not allow us to considering accepting that.

“The CPS was determined to see Easom face the full consequences of his actions, and we pushed for the case to go to trial. The jury saw through his lies and found him guilty of intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm.

“The incredible strength shown by the victim during this prosecution cannot be overstated. Her support has allowed us to bring the strongest possible case against a dangerous abuser and ensure he faces the full force of the law.”

Easom and the woman began their relationship some eight years before the life changing assault. It started well but over time, Easom became verbally abusive, criticising her and belittling her.

He could be very loving and made her believe that she had been overreacting to incidents where she was frightened and the relationship continued.

This was to be the pattern of Easom’s coercive control, loving one minute and abusive and violent the next.

The violence escalated. In 2021, Easom wrapped her head in a bedsheet, causing her to struggle for her breath. In January 2025, following a disagreement, he accelerated rapidly to frighten her and then performed an emergency stop just before a wall. He then headbutted her and scraped her face with his stubble.

The final incident occurred on 17 February 2025, when the woman tried to end the relationship, calmly telling Easom that it was for the best as they were arguing.

Easom flew into a rage. He started shouting, accusing her of causing an argument, pushed her forcefully against the headboard and grabbed her throat.

He then left the room and briefly returned, shouting “shut the f*** up” and pushing her head with such force that he broke her neck.

By the time he stopped, the damage had been done. After some convincing, he called an ambulance, lying to the operator and saying she had fallen out of bed.

She was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken neck. She had an operation to restore her spinal alignment, but the neurological damage rendered her tetraplegic and couldn’t be repaired.

Easom was arrested and gave a prepared statement during his police interview where he claimed they had been playfighting.

On the first day of his trial at Preston Crown Court, Easom pleaded guilty to two counts of actual bodily harm and one count of controlling or coercive behaviour. He admitted breaking his partner’s neck but denied that he had intended to do serious harm.

Following the trial, he was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison plus a four-year extended licence period at the same court on 27 February 2026.

Source: Home Office published on this website Thursday 26 February 2026 by Jill Powell

Victims and survivors of ‘honour’- based abuse will be kept safer through a new legal definition and guidance to help improve how frontline professionals support victims and pursue perpetrators.

Recent statistics show that nearly 3,000 ‘honour’- based abuse related offences were recorded by the police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025. However, due to the hidden nature of ‘honour’- based abuse, this is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg, as it is believed many of these harrowing incidents and crimes go unreported.

A legal definition of ‘honour’- based abuse has been brought into the government’s flagship Crime and Policing Bill. Alongside a power to issue crucial statutory guidance for authorities, the new legal definition will help the police, social workers and other public authorities better support victims, and set clear expectations for professionals with safeguarding responsibilities in the handling of these cases.

It will also help stop vital information, which could hold perpetrators to account in a criminal trial, from falling through the cracks.

The move is supported by over 60 charities, including Karma Nirvana, which has campaigned for these reforms since the tragic murder of Fawziyah Javed in 2021.

Fawziyah, from Leeds and pregnant at the time, was brutally killed when her husband pushed her from Arthur’s Seat, in a case that showcased how harmful ideas of perceived ‘dishonour’ can lead to tragedy.

Fawziyah experienced domestic abuse which was compounded by ‘honour’- based abuse in the lead-up to her death, highlighting the need to improve the way that statutory systems recognise this form of abuse.

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said:

There is no honour in ‘honour’-based abuse.

For too long, these devastating crimes have often been misunderstood and victims badly let down.

Now we are tackling these crimes head on and bringing them out of the shadows. Introducing a new definition and important guidance into law will ensure professionals will work together to ensure more victims are protected and more perpetrators face justice.

‘Honour’-based abuse can include ‘honour’- motivated killings, female genital mutilation (FGM), and forced marriage, all which are crimes that often take place in deep secrecy.

The definition, alongside a power to issue statutory guidance, has been introduced via an amendment at Report stage of the Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Lords, making both measures law across England and Wales.

The bill aims to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system and drive forward the government’s highly ambitious missions to halve both knife crime and violence against women and girls within the next decade.

In addition, the Home Office is exploring the feasibility of a prevalence study for forced marriage and FGM, first announced in August, to better understand how widespread these crimes are, alongside a community engagement campaign encouraging victims to come forward.

These initiatives will help uncover the true scale of the abuse, ensure more victims receive the support they deserve, and bring the most dangerous offenders to justice.

The measures follow the publication of the VAWG Strategy in December, which unveils how every lever of the state is to be used to protect women and girls and halve VAWG crimes in a decade.

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Friday 27 February 2026 by Jill Powell

Spiritual abuse and immigration abuse have been included in prosecution guidance for the first time to help prosecutors tackle emerging harmful practices.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has today published strengthened guidance for prosecutors to help tackle ‘honour’-based abuse, forced marriage and a widening range of harmful practices.

The updated guidance reflects growing concerns around evolving forms of abuse and sets out how prosecutors should build robust cases where victims may be controlled, coerced, or unable to safely support a prosecution.

Newly included are harmful practices such as dowry abuse, immigration-related exploitation, transnational marriage abandonment, and spiritual or ritualistic abuse linked to beliefs in witchcraft, spirit possession or demonic influence.
Virginity testing and hymenoplasty have also been added to reflect changes in legislation.

The guidance recognises the close link between ‘honour’-based abuse and these harmful practices, emphasising the importance for prosecutors to consider family pressure, cultural expectations, and coercive control when making charging decisions and building cases.

Baljit Ubhey, Director of Policy at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 

“‘Honour’-based abuse in all its forms is a serious crime, and it has no place in our society.

“Victims often endure immense pressure, fear and coercive control from those closest to them, which can make seeking help incredibly difficult.

“Our updated guidance equips prosecutors to identify emerging patterns of abuse, understand the wider context in which it occurs, and take swift, effective action to safeguard victims and bring perpetrators to justice.”

Selma Taha, Executive Director of Southall Black Sisters, said: 

“We welcome the Crown Prosecution Service’s updated guidance on ‘honour’-based abuse, forced marriage and harmful practices, aligned with its VAWG Strategy 2025-2030 commitment to delivering high-quality, research-informed casework that builds victim-survivor confidence in the justice system.

“The explicit recognition of dowry-related abuse and immigration-related exploitation is critical. These are patterns we see routinely in our frontline work with Black, minoritised and migrant women, yet they are too often overlooked.

“That is why it matters that this guidance has been shaped through consultation with specialist ‘by and for’ organisations such as ours, grounded in frontline expertise. The real test now is action. It must deliver measurable improvements in safeguarding for victim-survivors and ensure real accountability for perpetrators, through sustained partnership with specialist services and a whole-system commitment to tackling the root causes of VAWG.”

Tackling spiritual-related abuse

The CPS has expanded its guidance to support prosecutors handling reports of abuse linked to faith, belief or ritual and reflecting our growing understanding of how these cases present in real-life situations. 

This includes harm justified by accusations of witchcraft, spirit or demonic possession, or involvement in ritual or satanic practice.

This type of abuse can impact anyone, including children, adults and vulnerable adults, and can take many forms including financial abuse, physical violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect or homicide.

These cases often involve:

• violent exorcisms
• beatings, starvation or forced ingestion of harmful substances
• scapegoating children or vulnerable adults for misfortune
• extreme psychological, emotional and sometimes sexual abuse
• homicide.

While there is no standalone offence for this type of abuse, the updated guidance makes clear that prosecutors must treat these cases as serious criminality within the wider context of harmful practices and ‘honour’-based abuse, assessing which offences may apply on a case-by-case basis.

Immigration related abuse

The updated guidance also highlights immigration related abuse – a form of domestic abuse and harmful practice where perpetrators exploit a person’s immigration status to control and entrap them.

This can include threats of deportation, withholding vital documents, restricting access to support services, financial control, reporting them to the authorities – as well as practices such as transnational marriage abandonment, where a spouse is deliberately taken abroad and left there without resources to prevent their return to the UK.

While not a standalone offence, prosecutors are urged to consider all relevant criminal offences and apply domestic abuse and coercive or controlling behaviour guidance when assessing these cases.

Putting victims at the centre

The revised guidance further strengthens the CPS focus on safeguarding and victim support, highlighting:

• early protective measures, such as Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs)
• careful and appropriate use of interpreters
• culturally informed expert evidence to explain context
• evidence-led prosecutions where victims cannot safely engage
• close partnership working with specialist organisations

The guidance delivers a core commitment under the CPS Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, launched in November 2025, ensuring prosecutors are equipped to respond to evolving forms of abuse and protect those at greatest risk.

Source: West Yorkshire Police published on this website Wednesday 25 February 2026 by Jill Powell

A woman at the centre of systematic abuse at a children’s home in Halifax has been convicted. 

Linda Brunning, aged 66, of Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale, stood trial at Bradford Crown Court facing five charges, one count of indecent assault on a male person, two counts of aiding and abetting indecent assault and two counts of aiding and abetting buggery. 

On Monday 23 February, she was found guilty of all five charges.

Malcolm Phillips, aged 93, of Tyseley, Birmingham, was also charged with one count of indecent assault on a male person, two counts of aiding and abetting indecent assault and two of aiding and abetting buggery but was deemed unfit to stand trial and so faced a trial of facts. The Judge is still to make orders in respect of Philips. 

 As Phillips was deemed unfit for trial, he could only be tried in absentia on what is known as ‘agreed facts’. In a trial of agreed facts there are only a limited number of orders available to a Judge. There can be no verdict of guilty, and the court cannot pass sentence. 

The convictions follow investigations carried out by West Yorkshire Police into abuse, both physical and sexual, which occurred from the 1970s to the 1990s at Skircoat Lodge Children’s Home. The home was established to provide temporary accommodation and a place of protection for children who were the subject of care orders. Children, aged four to 16, were placed there for their own safety. Philips was employed by Calderdale Social Services as its manager and principal from 1976 with Brunning as his assistant from 1978. 

Over two decades, the pair created a regime of fear and violence, avoiding detection for their abhorrent crimes because no one dared speak out against them. After staff started to speak up, Calderdale Social Services asked the NSPCC to investigate the practices at the home in 1994 resulting in Phillips being suspended and Brunning being moved.

The home closed in 1996 and two years later West Yorkshire Police launched an investigation resulting in a trial which led to three men being convicted. This prompted further victim-survivors to come forward reporting sexual offences and physical abuse while at Skircoat Lodge. An investigation launched in 2018 focused on both male and female victims who reported offences taking place between 1976 and 1994.

 The trial focused on six victim-survivors and followed a meticulous investigation by a dedicated team of officers who worked closely with them to record their accounts including:  

• Reviewing more than 3,500 documents, some over 1,000 pages long
• Speaking to over 1,100 individuals, including victim-survivors and witnesses 
• Examining third party material, social care records, and the material from the original 1998 investigation.

Some suspects named in victim-survivor accounts were initially unidentified, which added further time and complexity. 

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Claire Smith of Calderdale District Police, said:

“We would like to thank the victim-survivors for the tremendous bravery they have shown in coming forward and sharing their experiences with the police, leading to this conviction.

“They endured abhorrent abuse at the hands of people who were entrusted and paid to care for them, in a place that should have been safe. As children, they were made to feel powerless, told that no one would believe them and that speaking up would put them in danger. After years of carrying that fear, their voices have finally been heard. No child should ever be faced with what these children had to endure, and I want to highlight the sheer courage and determination held by those who came forward to report this abuse.

“The investigation has been an extensive and lengthy process, which encountered challenges and delays along the way, but the investigation team have been relentless in doing all they could to secure justice.

“I also want to thank the many witnesses who, alongside the victim-survivors, came forward to share their accounts in support of the investigation. Their willingness to stand in court and describe the stringent environment within the home, as well as the power held over the children and staff, has been invaluable.

“We accept opportunities have been missed in the past to protect victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse but have taken this learning and used it to develop strong partnerships and better working practices with other agencies. We want to assure people that these crimes have not gone unpunished, and those responsible have been held to account. Above all, we hope the victims feel that their voices have been heard and that a measure of justice has been achieved.

“Since the publication of the Jay report in 2014, West Yorkshire Police has taken a proactive stance in exploring previous incidents and disclosures relating to non-recent group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse.

“This has resulted in in hundreds of perpetrators now serving lengthy prison sentences totalling thousands of years. Many investigations are still underway, with trials scheduled throughout this year and next.

“Alongside our complex investigative work, we’ve shaped our policing response through working with survivors, charities, and safeguarding partners. We also work closely with the national Hydrant Programme to continually review and develop our approach, ensuring victims and survivors are at the forefront of everything we do.” 

“We would encourage anyone who has suffered child abuse and exploitation to come forward and report it to us. No matter the length of time passed, you will be listened to, believed, and we will do all we can to fight for justice.”