Latest news with #coercivecontrol
The Independent
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Former footballer ‘assaulted Sugababes star and banned her wearing red lipstick'
A former professional footballer has appeared in court charged with assaulting Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan, and controlling when she could shower or go to the gym. Taiwo Leo Atieno, 39, faces eight charges relating to his ex-girlfriend, Ms Buchanan, during an approximately 13-year period. The former Luton Town and Kenya national team player appeared via video link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs wearing a suit and tie. He was not asked to enter pleas and Judge Ian Bourne KC granted his release from prison on conditional bail during the Harrow Crown Court case sitting at Southwark on Thursday. Atieno, from Brixton, south London, is charged with assaulting the founding Sugababes singer between January 1 2012 and January 1 2015 causing her actual bodily harm. He is also charged with controlling or coercive behaviour against Ms Buchanan between December 29 2015 and May 1 2018. The charge alleges that he opened Ms Buchanan's correspondences, would not let her wear red lipstick, and that he controlled her finances and when she could go to the gym or shower. The charge claims this caused Ms Buchanan 'serious alarm or distress which had a substantial adverse effect' on her 'usual day-to-day activities'. He is accused of doing this 'at a time when he knew or ought to have known that the behaviour will have a serious effect' on her. Atieno is also charged with six counts of breaching a non-molestation order, twice by allegedly posting information about Ms Buchanan to a third party online on July 18 and July 20 last year. He is also accused of breaching the order by emailing Ms Buchanan on August 2, November 19, December 19 and December 23 2024. His bail conditions include that he must surrender his passport by Monday afternoon. The judge said: 'There must not be any contact either directly or indirectly with the complainant Keisha Buchanan. 'That means any form of contact, whether it be by email or other sort of social media messaging system – any contact at all'. Julian Malins KC, defending, said his client 'fully understands it, and assures the court through us that he will abide by that'. Atieno was also told not to apply for international travel or to enter the London Borough of Barnet. He is due to enter pleas on August 22 this year and his trial is set for April 13 2026. Ms Buchanan was a teenager when she became one of the original members of the Sugababes with Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy in 1998. Donaghy left in 2001 and was replaced by Heidi Range. Buena was replaced by Amelle Berrabah in 2005 and Buchanan, the final original member, was replaced by Jade Ewen in 2009. The founding trio regained the right to use the Sugababes name in 2019 and reunited in 2022 to perform at Glastonbury Festival.
The Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Footballer appears in court accused of beating Sugababes ex Keisha Buchanan in ‘ten-year campaign of terror'
A FOOTBALLER has appeared in court charged with beating his Sugababes ex Keisha Buchanan in a ten-year "campaign of terror". Taiwo Leo Atieno is accused of grabbing the singer's neck and punching her in the arm and back. 6 6 The 39-year-old, who played for Luton, also controlled what Keisha, 40, ate and blocked her from wearing red lipstick, it is said. Atieno appeared at Southwark Crown Court today charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He is also accused of engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour, harassment without violence and breaching a non-molestation order. The footballer did not enter pleas during the hearing, which was adjourned until August 22 for technical reasons. A five-day trial has been set for April 13 next year at the same court. Atieno was granted bail subject to a series of conditions including a £10,000 surety and residence at his home address in Brixton. He must not enter the London Borough of Barnet, not contact the complainant and not apply for any international travel documents. Atieno, who will also have to surrender his passport, is accused of assaulting Keisha on three occasions - including one that left her needing physiotherapy treatment. The court heard previously how he allegedly conducted a "campaign of terror and abuse against the complainant for over ten years.' Keisha alleges he controlled her finances and use of the shower while they were living together. The footballer is also accused of allowing her to only go the gym "at certain times" and blocking her from watching TV. When he was blocked from contacting the singer by a family court order, it is alleged Atieno still sent emails to her. He is also accused of harassing Keisha over the course of three years with texts, emails, social media contact and a request for £25,000. Atieno has been charged with controlling and coercive behaviour between December 2015 and May 2018 and assault occasioning actual bodily harm between January 2012 and January 2015. He is also accused of harassment between January 2021 and December last year and an alleged breach of a non-molestation order. His lawyer claims the pair first met in 2006 and began dating in 2011, and that the footballer also worked as her business manager. The Kenya international played for a string of teams - including Walsall, Tamworth, Luton Town, Stevenage, and Torquay United - before retiring in 2013. Keisha was one of the original members of Sugababes alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhan Dohaghy. She enjoyed solo success before reuniting with her former bandmates. 6 6 6 6
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Health
- BreakingNews.ie
Clare man (28) jailed for sexual assault and coercive control of his former partner
A woman subjected to coercive control and sexual assault by her former partner has told a court he caused harm 'for his own amusement'. Martin Gooney (28) pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to coercive control and sexual assault. Advertisement The court heard that the victim wishes to retain her anonymity, but has no difficulty with Gooney of Cappabane, Scariff, Co Clare, being identified. On Monday, Gooney was handed a sentence of three years and two months. A post-release supervision order of 12 months was also imposed. Reading her victim impact statement during an earlier hearing, the woman stated that she checks her surroundings to see if Gooney is present and constantly questions her safety. 'The gaslighting was so relentless, he made me believe I was losing my mind and losing control of my being'. Advertisement She said his 'cruel' words and actions affected her sense of self-worth, and it has taken years to make progress, but his behaviour 'completely warped my perception of myself'. The woman said she has developed trust issues and dreads starting a new relationship. 'To compare him to an animal is an insult to the animal kingdom,' she said. 'This man caused harm for his own amusement'. Evidence was outlined that Gooney and the woman's relationship was initially fine, but over time, his behaviour became controlling and abusive towards her. Advertisement In August 2019, Gooney took her phone and used it to send messages to his phone. In these messages, he pretended to be the woman and suggested she was experiencing suicidal ideation. He then deleted all the messages sent between his phone and the woman's phone. She did not know the contents of these messages. Gooney sent these messages, which purported to be from the woman to her mother. He also used these messages during arguments with the woman, saying, 'Watch what you say, have messages from your phone'. Advertisement In early 2020, he found takeaway wrappers in her bin and accused her of seeing another man. The court heard the woman's mother had brought her a takeaway. Gooney was also verbally abusive to the victim, calling her a 'bitch', 'whore' and 'tramp'. During 2020, Gooney, who was no longer living with the woman, insisted she send him photos or Facetime him so he knew her location. On one occasion, the woman's friend had to send him a video to show she was with her. Gooney also placed a sofa in the woman's shed – without her knowledge – so he could stay and watch her. The woman wasn't initially aware that Gooney was staying in her shed. Advertisement He sexually assaulted her in March 2021. Afterwards, Gooney told her he 'wouldn't touch you with riddle stick, wouldn't know what you had, you're a whore'. The court heard there were other incidents of sexual assault. Gooney also said he was going to hang the woman's dog from a tree. Gooney has nine previous convictions, including for road traffic offences, assault and making a threat to kill or cause serious harm. When interviewed by gardaí, Gooney denied any wrongdoing. 'Sorry for the hassle' Gooney took the stand and read a letter of apology to the woman. He said he was 'sorry for the hassle caused' during their relationship. He said he was 'young and stupid' and 'selfish'. Gooney said he never thought about how his actions would make the woman feel or how they would hurt her. He told his defence counsel he was prepared to engage with the Probation Services and any suitable programmes. Vincent Heneghan SC, prosecuting, asked Gooney, 'was the way [the woman] was feeling not obvious to you?'. He replied: 'No'. A man gave character evidence on behalf of Gooney. He began his evidence by telling the court that his family and Gooney's 'are highly respected and thought of in our communities'. He said Gooney was a friend of his son's. 'He's always been good to us'. He described Gooney as an 'outstanding machine driver' and a hard worker. He added that he was aware of an incident in 2020 where Gooney saved a woman's life. The man told Mr Heneghan that he knew of Gooney's relationship with the woman, but did not know about the defendant's behaviour towards her. 'No, it wasn't brought to my attention'. Imposing sentence, Ms Justice Caroline Biggs said the woman's victim impact statement was 'very profound and compelling'. She noted that the woman felt she was 'in constant fight or flight mode' and 'was convinced she was unworthy of love'. She noted from a letter of apology from Gooney that he is 'sorry from the bottom of his heart' and added, 'you did not deserve it'. Ms Justice Biggs said the woman had tried both 'physically and verbally' to stop Gooney, but he behaved as if 'she was his'. 'He behaved in a way that demeaned her,' the judge said, adding that he was aggressive in the way he treated the woman. She noted the 'profound, damaging and long-lasting' impact Gooney's actions had on the woman. Ms Justice Biggs described the coercive control as 'menacing, insidious, intimidating and systematic'. She noted that a probation report stated that he was at a moderate risk of re-offending and was willing to engage with the Probation Service. Ireland Man (22) pleads guilty to attempting to murder his... Read More Ms Justice Biggs imposed concurrent terms of three years and two months for the sexual assault offences and two years and six months for the coercive control. She noted that the woman had previously indicated that the gardaí who assisted her in the prosecution of the case treated her with 'genuine kindness and the utmost care'. Ms Justice Biggs said she was very happy to hear that the woman had been supported in this way by the gardaí. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at or visit Rape Crisis Help. You can contact Women's Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@ or Men's Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@ for support and information.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Abuse was normalised in our Surrey home
"I had a pristine frontage of a middle-class home - no one thought it could happen behind those doors, but it did."David Challen successfully campaigned to free his mother, Sally Challen, from prison in 2019, almost nine years after she had killed his father, Richard, with a had suffered decades of coercive control at the hands of her husband, which David said had become "normalised" within the family home in the wealthy suburban village of Claygate in now a domestic abuse campaigner, has now written a book, called The Unthinkable, about the family's experiences, and said more needs to be done to protect victims. Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One, he said: "She'd done the worst act anyone possibly could do. [She] took away my father."I couldn't understand it, but I knew something had been rolling... something was happening and I just didn't have the words." A law passed in 2015, which recognises psychological manipulation as a form of domestic abuse, helped secure Mrs Challen's release from prison after she had been jailed for life for murder in control describes a pattern of behaviour by an abuser to harm, punish or frighten their victim and became a criminal offence in England and Wales in December 2015. David said this description had set him and his mother "free"."It gave us a language to describe what was going on in that home, to describe the insidious nature that is mostly non-physical violence," he having a name for the abuse had "robbed us of our right to have an ability to protect ourselves," he now uses his experience of "intergenerational trauma" to help others, with a book telling the family's story being released on Thursday. "I buried my childhood with my father, so I had to dig up the past to find the child I had left behind," he said."It was the child that I always hid because I didn't know how he experienced that world."But I knew I was born into this world with a gut feeling that [there was] something inherently bad about my father, and I never knew why."I normalised the coercion and control in my home, this life of servitude that my mother lived under... sexual violence was routine." If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line. He said he wrote the book to "give voice to what it's like to grow up in a home where domestic abuse wasn't the word - it was coercive control and it didn't appear on my TV screens".But, a decade on, "we're not tackling it enough", he added."I continue to speak out because I don't want these events to happen again."
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Coercive control remains major issue in South East
A victim of domestic abuse has spoken out, a decade after coercive control became a criminal offence in the UK, about how long it took her to realise her ex-husband was abusing which is not her real name, met her ex-husband at university and said during the marriage she did what he wanted to "keep the peace".The mother-of-three said it was "very hard to recognise coercive control" and initially thought it was down to "complicated communication issues".Data obtained from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) by the BBC showed there is an upward trend in the number of prosecutions in the last decade in the South East - from 18 in 2016 to 438 in 2024. According to domestic abuse support charity Safe Lives, coercive control "describes a range of behaviours that allow someone to gain or keep control of a partner, ex-partner or family member" and is "a complete subversion of a personal relationship"."There were limitations for what you could do," said Alice. "It was really confusing because of the mental game-playing that went on."It has been 10 years since coercive control became a criminal offence in the UK. Under the Serious Crime Act 2015 coercive control in an intimate or family relationship carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both. The BBC obtained data from Surrey and Sussex Police through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request which revealed the number of coercive control cases recorded in the two the past five years, Surrey Police recorded more than 3,000 reports. Of these, 40% led to arrests and 7% resulted in the last decade, Sussex Police recorded more than 7,000 reports. Of these, 36% led to arrests and only 3% resulted in FOI request was also submitted to Kent Police however, the force has not supplied the information at the time of publication. 'Difficult to heal' Alice said she felt coercion was more harmful than the physical violence she experienced."You may have some marks and bruising, but your body will heal and it will deal with it the way it knows best," she said."Coercive control is so hard to prove because nobody else is in the room with you and it's your word against the perpetrator. "There's mental scars which are so difficult to heal." Alice is encouraging people who are experiencing coercive control to seek help."I struggled to speak my truth, I struggled to be honest about what was happening and I couldn't openly express what I was thinking," she said."When I picked up the phone to call the police, I was proud of myself for doing that and it changed the course of my whole life and future."You should look for help from an outsider or domestic abuse support charity to check what is really happening in your relationship because sometimes you can't make judgements on your own." 'Appalling and abusive' Ellen Miller, chief executive of Safe Lives, said: "At the very heart of domestic abuse is the idea of coercive control and coercive controlling behaviour. "It is a complete subversion of a personal relationship into something that's all about feeding off, taking power and taking control in a way that's appalling and abusive."Ms Miller said examples included controlling who the victim saw, their choice of clothing, what the victim was spending their money on, career decisions, and controlling behaviour through threats of added: "It's that idea that someone is owning your life and is causing you to live in fear. "If something doesn't feel right, you need to ask yourself - 'is this coercive control?'" If you are affected by any of the issues raised, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.
