Newlyn man jailed appalling coercive controlling behaviour

Taylor Roddy, 27, of Boase Street, Newlyn, was sentenced at Truro Crown Court to three years in prison for coercive and controlling behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm against his former partner.

Taylor Roddy was jailed for three years (Image: D&C Police)

Roddy had been convicted after an earlier trial of offences spanning from 30 January 2024 to 30 September 2024, when the victim was aged 19 and he was 24 to 25.

He will serve half of the sentence in custody before being released on licence and must also comply with a ten-year restraining order.

The court heard Roddy’s behaviour began in early January 2024 with incidents of fighting before escalating into sustained violence and intimidation.

On a night out in the St Ives area in mid-January, the victim described being punched and kicked by Roddy and others before returning to their flat, where he later caused considerable damage by pulling down curtains, breaking furniture and smashing items.

On another occasion he pushed her to the floor with such force that she suffered a painful injury to her toe and ankle, the assault that formed the basis of the actual bodily harm charge.

In March, while out in St Ives, Roddy rugby-tackled her to the ground, leaving bruising to her leg and a cut to her arm.

The court was also told of two occasions in April 2024 when he bit her, injuries she described in evidence, and of a May incident in which he grabbed her arm, pulled her to the floor and left her so distressed she fled to her workplace in her dressing gown after he took her phone.

She also recounted being held in a choke hold so tight she could not breathe and having to strike Roddy with a nearby Wi-Fi router to get him to release her.

On her 20th birthday in September 2024, during a night out in Plymouth, Roddy slapped her across the face.

Photographs shown to the jury documented extensive bruising to her limbs consistent with repeated assaults over the course of the relationship.

As well as physical violence, prosecutors said Roddy subjected the victim to sustained emotional manipulation and verbal abuse.

Jurors heard a voice recording made on 29 March 2024 capturing him shouting in rage, which the judge said he would not readily forget.

The court was told that Roddy frequently accused her of cheating, posted allegations about her online, and spread claims to family members in an effort to humiliate her.

He also controlled who she could speak to, repeatedly demanded to know her whereabouts and insisted she share her location so he could monitor her movements.

Messages showed Roddy threatening suicide and blaming her, saying things such as “I hope you’re proud”, which prosecutors said were part of a pattern of coercive behaviour.

There was evidence of financial control linked to the tenancy they shared, with the victim and her mother left facing fees despite an understanding that he would cover the flat while living there.

In a victim personal statement read to the court, she described waking each day feeling agitated and on high alert because of Roddy’s unpredictable temper, particularly when he had been drinking.

She spoke of panic attacks and said the abuse had left her with long-term damage to her mental health and self-esteem.

Medical records showed that in January 2025, after the relationship ended, she sought help from her GP and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, prescribed medication and signed off work.

Prosecutors argued the case fell into the highest category of seriousness for coercive and controlling behaviour, pointing to repeated violence, damage to property, conduct intended to maximise fear and distress and behaviour designed to humiliate her publicly.

They said there was fear of violence on at least nine occasions and that the offending had had a substantial and ongoing adverse impact on her life.

In his defence Roddy's barrister Harriet Summerhayes highlighted the length of time the case had come to court saying Roddy was a different man to who he was then, of good character apart from a drink driving offence.

She also said Roddy going to jail would cause financial hardship for the family who relied on him to pay the rent.

Sentencing, His Honour Judge James Adkin said Roddy’s behaviour towards his former partner during the relationship was appalling.

He noted that Roddy had physically controlled her by biting, putting her in headlocks, slapping her face and pushing her over, and that the injury to her toe in the context of an actual bodily harm offence was nasty.

The judge said Roddy had also psychologically controlled her through jealousy, baseless accusations of infidelity, posting photographs and captions to humiliate her online, gaslighting her with claims that colleagues were talking about her and threatening suicide if she left.

Applying sentencing guidelines, the judge found high culpability and category one harm, with multiple aggravating features including steps taken to prevent her reporting incidents by taking her phone, frequent intoxication and leaving her in debt.

He said Roddy had no remorse at all, had tried to gaslight the jury during his evidence and displayed deeply ingrained behavioural traits that left him fearing for any young woman in a future relationship with him.

"You have no insight into the way that you behaved in that relationship and that you have deeply ingrained behavioural traits whereby I fear for any young woman that you're in a relationship with in the future that they may well again be subjected to domestic abuse," he said.

The judge imposed a ten-year restraining order banning Roddy from contacting the victim directly or indirectly, going to the street where she lives and making any reference to her on social media.

He ruled that the 18-month sentence for the assault would run concurrently and that, given the risk he posed and the seriousness of the offending, the three-year term for coercive and controlling behaviour could not be suspended.