Man jailed for domestic abuse spanning eight years

A man has been jailed for more than seven years after a campaign of domestic abuse against a woman which lasted eight years.

Ernie Jones, 29, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court to seven years and two months in prison for two counts of controlling and coercive behaviour, actual bodily harm, and stalking with fear of violence.

Surrey Police said Jones's behaviour included punching and kicking his victim in the face, stamping on her head and threatening her with a knife.

Between January 2017 and June 2025, he engaged in behaviour which was controlling or coercive, causing serious effect to the victim, police said.

Jones was arrested in May 2025 after the woman reported eight years of physical and psychological domestic abuse.

He was bailed with conditions, but police said the conditions were breached on several occasions, with his repeated unwanted contact leading to a charge of stalking.

During this time he carried on communicating with her, went to her family home and made threats towards her, causing her serious distress, a police spokesperson said.

In a statement released by police, the woman said: "For eight years, I lived under Ernie's control and abuse. This was not a misunderstanding. It was not a handful of isolated incidents.

"It was a deliberate and repeated pattern of behaviour, choices he made, that slowly and systematically stripped away my independence, my confidence, and my sense of who I was.

"This abuse has changed me forever," she said.

"It has changed my children forever and our lives will never be the same."

Det Con Emily Heath said: "The survivor has shown tremendous courage in reporting the abuse and supporting the investigation throughout.

"No one should be treated this way in a relationship.

"I commend her bravery in coming forward and hope she can now begin to rebuild her life after this traumatic experience."

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