Crime changed in Greater Manchester during lockdown - with a lot of abuse taking place behind closed doors.
According to the figures from the Office for National Statistics, between March and June 2020, offences which were domestic abuse related increased by 9%.
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Elaine De Fries, Director of Manchester Women’s Aid said: “Domestic abuse has increased during lockdown.
“We’ve had about a 25% increase in referrals, and that’s just the people we accept.
“The first month of the lockdown, people didn’t know what to do, and then that would explain the growth in referrals.
“In the first quarter of 2021, we have had 200 more referrals, we have observed it’s going to surpass what it normally is, massively.
“The difference between 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 is the lockdown - the population in Manchester hasn’t gone up by 25%.
“For physical abuse to happen, the perpetrator has to be there.
“People are together more, if they are in controlling relationships they are not allowed to go out.
“Things like the school run, they would have safety mechanisms in place, they would arrange for friends to come round or they would go out, and the perpetrator would go out too. All that’s gone now.
“We understand that stalking has gone up massively in lockdown - what you need to be a stalker is time, and people have more time and people have been confined at home.
“It has been a very, very stressful and busy time for each of the victims and our staff.”
Here, the M.E.N looks back on the cases of men who were hauled before the courts after abusing their partners during the coronavirus lockdown.
John Duckworth
John Duckworth’s relationship with his ex was ‘peppered with violence’.
Over the years they would argue and split up - but Duckworth, 37, would apologise and they’d get back together.
However, things took a turn for the worse when the woman went round to see him at his dad’s house in December last year.
When she got there, she realised he had been drinking and they began to argue, resulting in Duckworth calling her a ‘sl**’ and punching her in the face.
The woman punched him back to get away - before he picked up an empty pint glass and hurled it at her face.
She was left with a deep wound from her lip to her chin, which needed 80 to 90 stitches, as well as injuries to her eye.
Duckworth, from Bolton, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and was jailed for five-and-a-half years at Manchester Crown Court in August.
Gilson Paiva
Gilson Paiva, 37, was banned from contacting his ex-partner after threatening to set her on fire.
Subject to a suspended sentence order after being convicted of harassment, he was prohibited from contacting her in any way, directly or indirectly from February 21.
However, just four months later, on June 29 this year, Paiva turned up at her home while she was having dinner with her children.
That resulted in an argument where she told him he couldn’t be there.
Paiva, of Salford, then began throwing her bottles of alcohol down the sink and binned their meals.
When she tried to call the police he took the phone from her hand.
After the police were informed, Paiva was arrested and interviewed - and laid blame on his former partner.
He pleaded guilty to harassment, breach of a restraining order and breach of a suspended sentence, and was handed 12 months imprisonment which was suspended for two years, and was also ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 150 hours unpaid work.
Liam Mountford
Liam Mountford also breached his restraining order against his ex - just nine days after it was imposed.
The 34-year-old had previously left his former partner ‘wishing she wasn’t alive anymore’ following an appalling campaign of harassment and abuse.
Mountford, of Leigh, was handed a two-year restraining order and a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to harassment in June this year.
But, just nine days later, he breached that order by replying to a photograph of his ex-girlfriend on Snapchat with a love heart emoji and a 'bitmoji' character.
On June 28, the court heard that during their 10-month relationship, Mountford had broken his ex-partner's phone to stop her contacting others, accused her of meeting other men and threatened to post naked photos of her online.
It culminated in Mountford throwing her belongings on the roof, pushing her into furniture, spitting at her and holding weights above her head in a shocking episode of abuse on March 20.
Mountford was handed a two-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with the judge choosing not to impose the previous suspended sentence.
Graham Hammond
Graham Hammond and his partner had been in a relationship for three years - but he was jealous, abusive and violent from just six months.
Manchester Crown Court heard of a number of incidents where he had assaulted her, including where he had woken her by hitting her with her own mobile phone after she had added a male friend on Instagram.
However, the two occasions for which he pleaded guilty to involved offences of assault by beating and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In the first, in July 2020, Hammond returned home from a drug and alcohol-fuelled night out and began accusing her of ‘thinking she was better than him’.
The 45-year-old then followed her around the house as she tried to get away from him, before attacking her and throwing her into a cast iron fireplace - which fell on top of her.
Two months later, following an argument about her car, he climbed on top of her whilst they were in bed and began strangling her.
He told her: “OK, you want to see me be a real bad man? You want to see how wicked I can be? I can be a real d***head”.
She lost consciousness.
When she came to, his hands were still around her throat.
Hammond, of Salford, continued attacking her and threatened to kill her and her son.
He was jailed for two-and-a-half years, of which he will serve half in prison, less the time spent on remand after pleading guilty to the assault offences, as well as an offence on threat to kill.
Carl Newby
Carl Newby had been in a ‘happy’ relationship with his girlfriend for five years.
However, in January this year she returned home from a day of shopping to find she had been locked out.
After she was eventually let into the house, she went upstairs to stay out of his way, but he followed her and an argument ensued.
As she tried to get away from him, he pursued her into her son’s bedroom and began throwing items at her including a chair, a heavy document box and a drawer from a chest of drawers.
She called the police following the 20-minute ordeal, and they found her ‘cowering’ on the floor.
Many of the items Newby, of Urmston, had launched at her were covered in her blood.
He pleaded guilty to an offence of causing grievous bodily harm without intent.
Newby, 44, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment which was suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 120 hours of unpaid work.
He must also pay £1,000 compensation and was made the subject of a restraining order for five years
Sam Mountney
Sam Mountney began a relationship with his ex after they met online - but he became paranoid and jealous - regularly calling her and video calling her to check where she was.
Things came to a head in March when she visited him at his parents house.
Mountney, of Dukinfield, began accusing her of speaking to other men but as the woman got up to leave, he climbed on top of her and began strangling her.
Despite repeatedly trying to get up, Mountney, 28, pulled her back down and continued hitting her.
After she threatened to call the police, he called her a ‘f****** grass’ and punched her on the nose.
The woman shouted: “I’m bleeding, I’m bleeding” which resulted in his mum helping her leave the house and taking her to his sister’s house for help.
Mountney pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed in August for 27 months.
Trevor Daley
Trevor Daley, 30, turned violent and abusive after his girlfriend broke up with him over allegations he had been cheating.
He began harassing her, sending her unpleasant messages and threatened to share a sexually explicit video of her through the course of five days in October last year.
Days later he turned up at her house and lurked in her back garden for 20 minutes, despite her asking him to leave.
He then bombarded her with 17 voicemail messages threatening to have their children removed from her.
Daley, of Cheetham Hill, pleaded guilty to an offence of harassment and was jailed for two years, as well as being handed restraining order that banned him from contacting his ex.
The court heard that Daley had previous convictions for abuse against former partners including breach of a non-molestation order and battery.
Anthony Turner
Anthony Turner attacked his girlfriend at a friend’s daughter’s 18th birthday party in May this year.
The 33-year-old had been drinking when he kicked off with his partner for taking pictures with her friends outside.
His aggressive behaviour was such that the party had to be moved.
However, the argument continued and escalated to the point that he bit her cheek and headbutted her.
The police were called to the house in Irlam , and despite arriving with shields, Turner kicked out with ‘considerable force’ causing injury to one of the officer’s legs.
Turner, of Salford, pleaded guilty to common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assaulting an emergency worker and was jailed for 14 months in July.
He was also made subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting his partner for five years.
Elaine De Fries, Director of Manchester Women’s Aid, added: “The last eighteen months have placed unprecedented pressure on the essential and life-saving services we provide to survivors of domestic abuse across Manchester, and to those who are at risk of domestic abuse.
“Many people ask us how they can get involved and support our work.
“We would ask that if you are at all able to help, please donate towards our work.
“You can donate online via our website via our website at pankhursttrust.org/donate .
See the latest court and crime news in your area by receiving email updates.
“Any amount you are able to give will make a real difference, but a donation of £20 will pay for a welcome pack for a woman entering refuge (toothbrushes and toothpaste for them and their children, shampoo, soap, etc).
“Many women and children have to leave everything behind when they come to us, so your donation will make a huge impact on their experience at a time when they are most vulnerable.”
