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A U.K. man is sharing his story about how he endured a controlling girlfriend’s relentless abuse.
Gareth Jones, 41, was kicked, punched and bitten, forced to sleep on the floor, was banned from using the toilet, and had his diet controlled, resulting in the man losing more than 60 pounds in just two months.
It took more than a year of therapy for Jones to begin to recover from months of torture from the now ex-girlfriend that he met online.
“Everything was good” when Jones’ relationship with Sarah Rigby, also 41, began in July 2021, according to a news release from the Cheshire Police Department.
“I guess they call it love bombing,” Jones told the BBC of the couple’s early days.
“I thought, ‘How can this person be so loving?’ You think this could really be the one, and this could work out. It was overly powerful.”
But Rigby’s controlling nature quickly surfaced when she forced Jones to move in with her, and ordered the man to pay $1,260 a month in rent, even though the house was already owned by her father, police said.
She took full control of his finances, cut him off from his family and friends, and put strict rules in place, according to cops.
Jones worked remotely, but he was not allowed to be there if she wasn’t home.
The abuser also prevented him from using the toilet and controlled what he could eat.
If he disobeyed her orders, she would physically attack him.
“She made me sleep on the floor with no covers if things weren’t going her way, as a punishment,” Jones told the outlet.
“I wasn’t allowed to shower or shave, or use the toilet,” he continued.
“I had to hold it in and try to make it down to the local supermarket or a pub or a restaurant.”
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The physical, emotional and financial abuse caused the man to lose 63 pounds in two months, he told the BBC.
But after sneaking out to meet his mother during the ordeal, he realized the toll it was taking not just on him but on his loved ones.
Jones sought help in March 2022 from the ManKind Initiative, a U.K. charity that provides support for male victims of domestic abuse, and got the courage to file a complaint with the Rigby police.
In May 2024, the abuser was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, after she pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour.
Jones also got a five-year restraining order against her.
Cheshire Police Det.-Const. Sophie Ward called Jones’ situation “the worst case of controlling and coercive behaviour I have ever seen.”
“Although [Rigby] eventually pleaded guilty to her offending, she has shown no remorse for her actions,” Ward continued.
“While the victim will never be able to forget what happened to him, I hope that the conclusion of this case will help him to move forward and start to rebuild his life.”