Abusive boyfriend, 28, who strangled and smothered a mother-of-two, 37, to death was already on bail for attacking another woman
- Jason Gowen beat, strangled and smothered Fiona Robinson in May 2023
- She was found dead by police at an address on Congress Street in Chorley
By Lettice Bromovsky[1] and Richard Marsden[2]
Published: 12:16, 17 January 2024 | Updated: 16:20, 17 January 2024
A violent and jealous boyfriend has been jailed for life for murdering his partner while on bail for domestic abuse offences against another woman.
Jason Gowen, 28, beat, strangled and smothered mother-of-two Fiona Robinson, 37, then made a degrading video in which he mocked her as she lay seriously injured on the floor, a court heard.
Stephen Wood KC, prosecuting, said their relationship was ‘characterised by the defendant’s physically abusive, manipulative, possessive and controlling behaviours borne out of paranoia and jealousy’.
Today, Gowen received a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years at Preston Crown Court for the ‘brutal’ offence as prosecutors warned he ‘poses a significant risk to women’.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Altham said: ‘Be in no doubt. This was a sustained, brutal and ultimately deadly attack during which the defendant sought to humiliate the victim, enjoying her suffering and recording it, presumably for the future.’
Jason Gowen, 28, (right) beat, strangled and smothered mother-of-two Fiona Robinson (left), 37, then made a degrading video in which he mocked her as she lay seriously injured on the floor, a court heard
Tom Snape, Senior Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in North West England, said: ‘Jason Gowen clearly poses a significant risk to women. He brutally murdered a woman he was in a relationship with whilst awaiting sentence for offences against a previous partner.
‘Initially he denied he was responsible for murder and concocted various lies to evade prosecution, but when faced with the overwhelming evidence against him, including medical evidence, CCTV and footage he recorded himself, he eventually pleaded guilty.
‘Our thoughts are with the family of Fiona Robinson and all those who have been affected by Gowen’s violent actions.’
Gowen was sentenced by Honorary Recorder of Preston, Judge Robert Altham.
The court heard that in the months before she was murdered, Ms Robinson sent a number of messages and photos to a friend, showing injuries inflicted by Gowen.
Their relationship was ‘characterised by the defendant’s physically abusive, manipulative, possessive and controlling behaviours borne out of paranoia and jealousy’
Colleagues had seen her with bruises and in October 2022 she had told her employer her partner was violent towards her.On May 22, 2023, Ms Robinson sent photos of injuries which included bite marks and two days later told her friend she had ‘cheated’ and that Gowen had bitten her.
From April 13, she planned to leave the relationship, Preston Crown Court heard.
But at 2:16am on May 26, 2023, Gowen made a 999 call telling the officer his partner had stopped breathing and was covered in bruises as if she had been beaten.
He said she had been out drinking and returned to their home in Chorley, Lancashire, drunk but that he had only just noticed the injuries.
Gowen told a string of lies in a bid to distance himself from the killing but October 27, he pleaded guilty to murder, in addition to charges of ABH and common assault against his previous partner.
The offences date back to January 2021. A charge of controlling and coercive behaviour in respect of the other woman was ordered to lie on file.
Mr Wood told the court CCTV footage tracked Gowen and Ms Robinson’s movements on May 24 and showed them drinking in pubs around Chorley.
Mother-of-two knew of her partner’s violent past because of Clare’s Law
Fiona Robinson had been made aware of her partner’s violent past under Clare’s Law before he killed her, it has emerged.
Lancashire Police said they disclosed information to Ms Robinson about Jason Gowen after she moved from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, to Chorley, Lancashire, to live with him.
The disclosure revealed ‘that Gowen had previously been the subject of domestic abuse reports with a number of previous partners and that he had also been charged with an offence of assault on a previous partner which was proceeding through the court process’.
Clare’s Law, usually known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme or similar, allows police to disclose a person’s history abusive behaviour to those who might be at risk, such as a new partner.
It was named after Clare Wood, 36, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton in Salford, Greater Manchester, in 2009, following a campaign by her family. After the killing, it emerged Appleton had a criminal record for a string of attacks on former partners.
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At some points they were together and others they were apart.At 1:30pm, Gowen had left a bar when he messaged Ms Robinson telling her: ‘If you love me, ring me.’
After a six-and-a-half-minute call from his partner, he then texted her saying: ‘Knew you didn’t love me.’
The couple bickered over text throughout the afternoon and at one point, while in the Tap and Bottle, Gowen punched himself in the face.
Throughout the day and into the evening, Gowen drank at least 11 pints, the court heard.
Shortly before 11:30pm the couple left the Sir Henry Tate together then went their separate ways.
Ms Robinson was captured on CCTV in McDonalds a few minutes later. At that stage she had no injuries.
Gowen was captured on CCTV close to their home at around the same time. He appeared to be unsteady on his feet, the court heard.
Ms Robinson returned to the address at 12:45am.
She was not seen leaving the house again.
Over the course of the following day, Gowen went in and out of the address several times.
At 9:54am he recorded a video of her on his iPad in which she had bruises to her face and back.
That evening, he used Ms Robinson’s phone to make a number of internet searches relating to alcohol poisoning and ‘what to do when someone is passed out drunk.’
In the early hours of the following morning, he used Ms Robinson’s phone to call 999.The prosecution said: ‘By this time, the defendant must have thought he had put together an account or scenario which would stand up to scrutiny.
‘A post mortem examination, carried out by Dr Alison Armour, found Ms Robinson had bruising and fractures to her neck consistent with manual strangulation, and injuries to her face consistent with suffocation.
She also suffered multiple broken ribs and fractures to her vertebrae, extensive bruising to her trunk and abdomen and a ‘possible’ bit mark to her leg.
Some of the bruises were on top of older bruises and one of the rib fractures appeared to have been older than the others.
Dr Armour concluded Ms Robinson had been the victim of a sustained and very violent assault where she was punched many, many times.
Today Gowen received a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years at Preston Crown Court
Ms Robinson was also stamped upon being the cause of the internal bleeding and the fractures seen to the lumbar spine.
In Dr Armour’s opinion, these injuries of themself were of sufficient gravity to cause death.
Dr Armour also concluded that the noted acts of strangulation and smothering were also sufficient to be a potential cause of death.
Gowen originally denied murder, telling police offers he and Ms Robinson were ‘massively in love and planning a wedding.’ But last October, he pleaded guilty to murder.
Gowen was also sentenced for offences of common assault and ABH relating to a previous partner, for which he received a total of 40 weeks to run concurrent with his life term.
Gowen was charged with those offences in January 2021 but granted bail. He pleaded not guilty but changed his plea on the day he was due to stand trial, in March 2023.
In one of the attacks, he hit his partner with the back of his hand while she was driving, causing a black eye and a cut to her eyebrow.
In the other attack he held the woman down during a drunken row using ‘more force than was necessary to defend himself or restrain her’, causing injuries.
Gowen murdered Ms Robinson while on bail for sentence for the crimes against his previous partner.
Judge Altham said these offences were an aggravating feature in the murder and elevated the starting point for the minimum term he set.
Ms Robinson’s family have spoken out about the impact of her death – and are urging anyone in an abusive relationship to speak out and get help.
What is Clare’s Law? How you can find out your partner’s domestic violence history, thanks to father’s campaign[3]
Clare Wood, 36, was strangled by an ex
Clare’s Law was created in 2014 following a campaign by Michael Brown, whose daughter was murdered by her ex-boyfriend.
The initiative, officially called the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, was designed to provide people with information that may protect them from a potentially abusive situation.
The scheme allows the police to disclose information about a partner’s previous history of domestic violence or violent acts.
Clare Wood, 36, was strangled and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton at her home in Salford, Greater Manchester, in February 2009.
The mother-of-one had met Appleton on Facebook, unaware of his horrific history of violence against women, including repeated harassment, threats and the kidnapping at knifepoint of one of his ex-girlfriends.
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In a statement read in court, her two teenage children, said: ‘Emotionally, a massive hole has been left in our lives and our hearts.
It’s as if we have a constant physical ache in our chests.
‘I can be sat on a bus and hear children shout ‘mum’, or walk down the street and hear a child call out ‘mum’, and I realise that I’ll never be able to say that again myself.’
Speaking about Gowen, they added: ‘I feel anger towards him as he is the reason I didn’t see my mum for the last twelve months and the reason our mum isn’t here anymore. If he had never entered our lives she would still be here.’
Ms Robinson’s mother, Susan Dunstan, added: ‘Since we lost Fiona, I haven’t been able to eat or sleep properly. It takes me hours and hours to drift off, and when I do all I can see is Fiona.
I find myself going through what must have happened over and over again. It is like living in a nightmare that I just want to wake up from.
‘As soon as I open my eyes she is in my thoughts. No mother should ever have to bury her child, especially in such circumstances.
‘I cannot get the image of Fiona, injured, out of my head.
I have nightmares where I can see it taking place, but I am powerless to stop him.’
Det Superintendent Mark Haworth-Oates, of the Lancashire Police, said: ‘Throughout her relationship with Gowen, Fiona was subjected to physical and psychological abuse, which culminated in the attack which killed her.
‘It is clear from speaking to her family that Fiona was a very much-loved daughter, sister, mum and friend and that her death has left a hole in many, many lives.
It is utterly heartbreaking, especially as her two children will now have to grow up without her.
‘Gowen, has shown himself to be a violent and manipulative offender, who preyed on women that he formed relationships with.
‘While we will never know what caused the violence on that night, it is clear that Gowen put Fiona through an unimaginable ordeal, over a period of 24 hours, inflicting a large number of injuries upon her.
‘He then failed to get Fiona the medical help that she so obviously needed, no doubt all for reasons of self-interest and control, and allowed her to die.
‘I hope that the family can start to rebuild their lives now, in the knowledge that Gowen has admitted his guilt and is in prison.’
References
- ^ Lettice Bromovsky (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Richard Marsden (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ What is Clare’s Law?
How you can find out your partner’s domestic violence history, thanks to father’s campaign
(www.dailymail.co.uk)