WHEN azygous mum Leah Holmes yet met 'caring' enactment workfellow Jonathan Hutton, aft months of flirting connected the phone, she thought she'd recovered the emotion of her life.
But she had unwittingly fallen for a serial rapist - and would soon go his adjacent victim.
Hutton, 40, had abused and raped women crossed the country, striking implicit the people of 22 years.
One of Hutton’s exes adjacent desperately contacted Leah, 43, from Runcorn, Cheshire, with a stark informing - but sadly, she had already been brainwashed.
Leah, who shares a kid with Hutton, was mentally tortured, manipulated and raped during their 4 twelvemonth relationship.
Now, she’s speaking exclusively to the Sun, to raise consciousness for maltreatment survivors.
Leah, a trainee laboratory technician, says: “I thought I recovered the emotion of my life. A fantastic spouse and the begetter of my child.
“But instead, Jon was a monster successful disguise. The magnitude of women helium has wounded makes my bosom ache.
“Now I’m grieving not lone what I lost, but besides the begetter my girl has lost.
“I anticipation different women recognise these reddish flags that I didn’t spot with Jon.”
Abuse lies
In December 2019, Leah worked with M&S furnishings deliveries successful Cheshire portion Hutton, a logistics operator, was successful the sister bureau implicit 200 miles distant successful Norfolk.
Leah says: “Our enactment calls turned flirtatious. I loved Jonathan’s charismatic Norfolk accent. He was comic too.
I had my rapist father's children
“We began messaging aft work. Jon was successful a depressive authorities owed to a controlling ex-girlfriend. She wouldn’t fto him see his kids.
“My bosom broke for him. I told him I was a azygous mum to 2 children, aged 7 and six.
“I confided successful him astir my anxiousness and depression. Jon was caring and loving.
“He drove to Cheshire, to conscionable maine 2 months later. He was the full package.”
He started playing caput games with me. He spoke non-stop of his emotion for these past women and made maine consciousness worthless
In March 2020, they became a mates and Hutton relocated to Cheshire, moving into Leah’s location with her kids.
Every day, helium confided successful Leah astir his ‘awful’ ex-partner, crying that helium couldn’t spot his children.
Leah says: “He would sob successful my arms. It was awful.
“We fell profoundly successful emotion and Jon fitted into my family. But months in, I got a Facebook connection from his ex.
“She warned maine that Jon had controlled and abused her daily.
“I was furious, she was conscionable arsenic brainsick arsenic Jon said. I thought she was making it each up.
“I replied telling her I didn’t judge her and to permission america alone.”
But aft that, Hutton began drinking each night, and his behaviour dilatory began to change.
Leah says: “I started to realise helium was obsessed with his exes. He adjacent wrote astir them successful a diary.
“He started playing caput games with me. He spoke non-stop of his emotion for these past women and made maine consciousness worthless.
“Every day, Jon belittled and bullied me; calling maine a slag and making maine cry.”
How to get help
Women's Aid has this proposal for victims and their families:
- Always support your telephone nearby.
- Get successful interaction with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid unrecorded chat helpline and services specified arsenic SupportLine.
- If you are successful danger, telephone 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting maltreatment without speaking down the phone, alternatively dialing “55”.
- Always support immoderate wealth connected you, including alteration for a wage telephone oregon autobus fare.
- If you fishy your spouse is astir to onslaught you, effort to spell to a lower-risk country of the location – for example, wherever determination is simply a mode retired and entree to a telephone.
- Avoid the room and garage, wherever determination are apt to beryllium knives oregon different weapons. Avoid rooms wherever you mightiness go trapped, specified arsenic the bathroom, oregon wherever you mightiness beryllium unopen into a cupboard oregon different tiny space.
If you are a victim of home abuse, SupportLine is unfastened Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm connected 01708 765200. The charity’s email enactment service is unfastened weekdays and weekends during the situation – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service - disposable weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You tin besides telephone the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline connected 0808 2000 247.
Vile rape
In September 2020, Leah and Hutton had a take-away and movie night. One happening led to different and Leah instigated sex.
Leah says: “Everything was fine, until Jon forced his manus betwixt my legs aggressively.
“I told him to halt and that I was successful pain. Ignoring me, helium continued hurting me.
“Pleading and crying, I tried to combat him off. But helium lone got angrier, and much vigorous, yet looked similar helium was enjoying it. It was hell.
“He yet took his manus away. But helium flipped maine implicit and raped me.
As I screamed for him to stop, helium yelled astatine maine to ‘Just get connected with it
“As I screamed for him to stop, helium yelled astatine maine to ‘Just get connected with it.’
“After, I fell into a heap connected the sofa, sobbing. I said he’d raped me.
“Jon casually got retired his telephone and Googled the word ‘rape’. He work the explanation aloud.
“He denied it and pretended similar thing happened. Inside, I wanted to die.
“After that, whenever I tried to talk to him astir it helium called maine a slag and that I couldn’t beryllium raped.
“Other times, he’d battalion his bags and endanger to leave. In love, trapped and brainwashed, I ended up begging him not to go.”
Sadly, Leah mislaid herself completely, and her mental health deteriorated.
But Hutton was a maestro manipulator and continued to mentally torture Leah.
In December 2020, aft a twelvemonth together, Leah fell pregnant with their baby.
Leah says: “Jon had told maine to instrumentality my coil out, truthful I hoped he’d beryllium happy.
“But helium was furious and told maine I had ‘options.’ It was similar a weapon to my heart.
“During the pregnancy, sometimes he’d consciousness for a kick, different times he’d disregard me.”
Sick confessions
In August 2021, Leah gave commencement to their daughter. Only 1 period later, Jon near location to survey concern astatine a assemblage successful Wales, earlier transferring to assemblage successful Lincoln.
Leah abruptly recovered herself a azygous mum, raising a babe and 2 kids alone.
For the adjacent 2 years, they had a long-distance narration and visited each different connected weekends.
Even though I raped her, thrown drinks connected her, I can’t judge she’s with maine still.’
Extract from Jon's diary
Leah says: “Whilst distant Jon would nonstop maine cruel texts. I was astatine my breaking point.
“The adjacent year, successful 2023, the police contacted maine and told maine his ex had pressed charged against him.
“I remembered her messages, informing me. I’d been truthful trapped and blind-sighted astatine the time.
“Hearing her claims of Jon abusing her, and everything he’d told maine was lies, I was horrified.
“Then, different 2 women had travel forward. It abruptly dawned connected maine I was a unfortunate of maltreatment too.
“I grabbed Jon’s diary from a drawer successful my chamber and drove to the constabulary station. There, I told them everything he’d done.”
The constabulary combined Leah and the different women’s cases together, discovering that Hutton had been abusing 4 women successful 4 antithetic counties implicit 22 years.
They besides work done Hutton’s diary which admitted each his maltreatment against his ex for years.
One chilling introduction read: "Even though I raped her, thrown drinks connected her, I can’t judge she’s with maine still."
They utilized it arsenic important grounds and, successful April 2023, Hutton was arrested.
In December 2023, a judge described him as ‘sociopathic’, ‘misogynistic’, ‘calculating’ with ‘dangerous and manipulative behaviour.’
Hutton was recovered blameworthy of 1 number of rape and 1 number of intersexual battle by penetration against Leah astatine King’s Lynn Crown Court.
He was besides convicted of a further 14 counts of rape and intersexual battle against 3 different women.
He was sentenced to beingness and ordered to service a minimum of 14 years.
Leah says: “In court, I saw his ex who’d warned me, and I felt embarrassed. I adjacent felt blameworthy seeing Jon up there.
Jon needed to spell to situation truthful nary much women could get hurt
“Listening to the different ladies’ stories, I was devastated. The mode he’d degraded and abused america all.
“During the trial, Jon rolled his eyes astatine america all. I couldn’t halt crying.
“Unlike the others, I’d conscionable been successful a caller narration with Jon and I inactive loved him deeply.
“It was hard, but I knew I’d done the close thing. Jon needed to spell to situation truthful nary much women could get hurt.
“After the lawsuit was over, the different women and I each hugged and went for a cupful of tea.
“After each we’d been through, it was bully we had each other.
“Now, I’m concentrating connected being a bully mum. But my girl reminds maine of Jon each day.
“The different women and I inactive enactment successful touch, we person been done truthful much.
“To immoderate women retired determination similar me, you tin get the justness you merit too, and get monsters similar Jon enactment away.”