Man with 'dangerous attitude towards women' controlled his partner's life

A Cambridgeshire man with a “deep seated and dangerous attitude towards women” controlled every aspect of his partner's life and cut her off from her family. He began to control who his girlfriend spoke to, what she wore and if she used make up.

Ali Imam, 24, made abusive and derogatory comments towards her and would become angry if she didn’t clean or make dinner. He isolated her from family and friends, tracked her and monitored her phone and social media.

He sent coercive and controlling messages, physically assaulted the woman and even cut up her clothes. Imam was in a relationship with the woman for a year but towards the end of 2022 his coercive behaviour escalated.

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In April 2023 the woman ended the relationship and confided in police what had been happening to her. Imam, of Abbeyfields, Fletton, Peterborough, was arrested on suspicion of coercive and controlling behaviour but in police interview he denied the offences.

His phone was seized and analysis revealed the sheer scale of messages he had sent to his girlfriend. In just six weeks he had asked the woman what she was doing 178 times, where she was more than 200 times and accused her of cheating on him 16 times – mainly when she did not answer his messages immediately.

Imam was charged with one count of coercive and controlling behaviour which he initially denied, but pleaded guilty with a basis of plea at Cambridge Crown Court in September. He was sentenced at the same court on Friday (November 22) where he was jailed for two years and three months.

Imam was also handed a restraining order for life, ordering him not to contact his former partner or her family by any means – nor refer to them directly or indirectly on social media.

'You must leave them alone'

Handing down the restraining order, Judge Andrew Hurst told Imam: “You will forget the woman and her family and leave them entirely alone.”

In sentencing, he told Imam he had made his victim’s life a misery for nearly a year and had no doubt he had “sought to control every aspect of the woman’s life” – when she should have been respected for who she was and by the person she allowed into her life.

Judge Hurst said that in Imam’s basis of plea, he accepted he had sent coercive and controlling messages, physically assaulted the woman and cut up her clothes. He added that family and friends had noted the change in the woman, who had “an exciting career ahead of her” but had become secretive and isolated.

Judge Hurst said it was “uncertain how much, if ever” the woman would recover and added: “A once independent young girl has been broken - her mother now feels sad when she sees other happy, healthy young girls.”

The judge noted that Imam still took no responsibility for what he had done and had “a deep seated and dangerous attitude towards women”.

He described Imam as “controlling, needlessly jealous and demanding” and concluded by saying: “The only way you are going to understand that you can never do this to another woman again is to do what you told her to do - look in the mirror. You need to understand what it is in you that made you damage this young girl so much.”

Coercive control - how to make a report and get help

DC Abbie McQuaid, who investigated, said no person should have to suffer this kind of abuse and the case helped to highlight that domestic abuse wasn’t always just physical.

She added: “Victims can also suffer from the threat and fear of injury, daily intimidation and having every aspect of their life monitored and controlled. Coercive control is a criminal offence, and as this case highlights, we take all reports of it very seriously.

“We would strongly urge anyone who is a victim of domestic abuse to contact police or call the national domestic violence helpline on 0808 2000 247.”

To report concerns or for more advice and support on domestic abuse, including coercive control, visit the force’s dedicated web pages.