Godalming jailed for domestic abuse

A man from Godalming has been jailed for more than seven years for domestic abuse of a woman over eight years.

29 year old Ernie Jones attacked and threatened the victim, leaving her with physical and psychological injuries.

He was given an indefinite restraining order alongside his sentence.

Reflecting on the abuse, the survivor shared: "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.

"I lived in constant fear. Fear of his moods, fear of his reactions, fear of saying the wrong word or making the wrong decision. I was always walking on eggshells.

"Over time, I stopped feeling like a person in my own right. I felt like I existed only to serve Ernie, to meet his needs before my own, to keep him calm, to prevent his anger. I felt like a slave in my own life, constantly catering to my partner out of fear of what would happen if I did not. I felt worthless and degraded.