Man sentenced for locking ex-girlfriend in van

Josh Sayers was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

A man who locked his ex-girlfriend in his works van and stole her phone has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Despite being asked to leave the woman alone, Josh Sayers, 26, pestered her into letting him give her a lift then drove her away and refused to let her out, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The woman said Sayers was "ruining" her life and she had regular flashbacks of the ordeal, which had only ended when police smashed their way into the van.

Sayers was jailed for two years suspended for two years after admitting false imprisonment and theft of her £1,300 phone, which was never recovered.

The woman had broken up with Sayers three weeks before the incident on 3 August 2023, prosecutor Neil Pallister said.

They had been exchanging messages and Sayers, of Portrush Drive in Hebburn, said he would go to see her despite her asking him not to, the court heard.

As she walked to a sunbed salon near her home in Sunderland, she saw his van parked up and he beckoned her over.

'Crying and distressed'

She initially rejected his invite to give her a lift but eventually relented after he continued to drive behind her as she walked, the court heard.

Her fear grew as he drove past the salon and up towards Newcastle, the court heard.

Fearing for her safety, the woman started to covertly record Sayers on her phone but he noticed and became angry with her, Mr Pallister said.

The woman grew increasingly distressed and started to beep the horn prompting Sayers to pull her hood over her head, the court heard.

He eventually stopped in Gateshead and got out, taking her phone and locking her in the van.

Sayers had left his phone in the van though and the woman used it to call 999, with police arriving about 20 minutes later and smashing their way in to rescue her, the court heard.

Mr Pallister said the woman was "crying and clearly distressed".

Sayers handed himself into police later that day.

'Extremely unpleasant'

In a statement read to the court, the woman said she had been affected in multiple ways, especially when it came to trusting men.

She also said she felt sick whenever she travelled along the Felling bypass, which was the route Sayers had taken.

Recorder Christopher Rose said it was "extremely unpleasant" and Sayers had a history of domestically abusing partners, having been previously cautioned for sending malicious communications to an ex.

The judge said Sayers posed a risk to former partners as he could not accept when a relationship had ended.

But, he said, there was "clearly another side" to Sayers' character and he was hard-working, "extremely diligent" and respected by people who knew him.

"It is tragic somebody with those positive attributes should nevertheless behave in the awful way in which you did," Recorder Rose said.

The judge said there was a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation" and the suspended sentence order included 200 hours unpaid work and a programme aimed at domestic abuse offenders.

Sayers was also ordered to pay the woman £1,309 in compensation for the phone and made the subject of a five-year restraining order.