Woman held captive in locked flat by ex-boyfriend

A REJECTED boyfriend held his frightened girlfriend prisoner for several hours in their locked Hinckley flat as their relationship was breaking down, a court heard.

When she tried to open windows to call for help he closed them and muffled her screams with his hand.

After they split up, Alan Burns, who has a form of autism known as Asperger’s syndrome, hacked into her Facebook account and stalked her – even turning up at a restaurant where she was meeting a friend.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and stalking his ex-partner earlier this year.

Burns told the judge he now accepted his relationship was “completely over.”

He said: “It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever done and I will regret it for the rest of my life.

“It was a mistake. I’d like to apologise.”

Burns appeared at Leicester Crown Court via a live video link from the city’s prison in Welford Road, where he had been on remand for six weeks.

He was given an 18-month community order, with a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 120 hours of unpaid work.

Neil Bannister, prosecuting, said the couple were living in a flat in Hinckley when the defendant became “manipulative, coercive and controlling”.

During a row on February 28, he refused to leave the bathroom when she wanted a shower. He took her keys and phone before locking her indoors.

Mr Bannister said: “She tried to grab the keys but he twisted her arm three times, causing pain. She was screaming at him and he kicked out at her. She began shouting for help. He put his hand over her mouth to muffle her.

“She tried opening windows to call for help but he shut them, once shutting it on her hand.”

After several hours, he briefly left the room and she sent an e-mail to her sister asking her to call the police.

The defendant, realising the alarm had been raised, returned the phone and keys and became upset.

She did not pursue a complaint until after he had hacked into her Facebook and social media accounts.

It led to him turning up at The Alchemist restaurant in Birmingham, where she was meeting a friend, and at Hinckley train station.

He did not approach but she was spooked to suddenly see him. In a victim impact statement, the complainant said she was in so much fear she was a “virtual recluse”.

The defendant also admitted common assault upon his ex-partner’s sister, by trapping her leg in a door causing swelling, when attempting to collect her belongings from the flat.

Judge Robert Brown said: “What you did to your former partner was wrong. “I think you have remorse in you. “You’re 21 and have never been in trouble before.

“You hacked into her Facebook account which was planned and sophisticated.

“You falsely imprisoned her from leaving your joint flat for a few hours and stalked her for a few weeks.

“I accept you suffer from Asperger’s and autism and it’s a condition that can affect your perception of events and that you see things differently from others.

“It’s not an excuse but it’s a matter I should give some weight to.

Imran Majid, mitigating, said: “The pre-sentence report talks about the difficulties he had in particular Asperger’s Syndrome and the way he would view certain things.

“Once he realised what he was doing was wrong, he handed back her phone and keys.

“He could have dealt with things better had he had the support he needed, which is now being offered by the probation service.”

The court heard the defendant, whose family were in court, now planned to live with his dad in Birmingham.