Chorley man jailed for partner Fiona Robinson's murder

Jason Gowen initially "concocted various lies" before eventually admitting her murder

A "physically abusive" and "controlling" man who murdered his partner has been jailed for life.

Jason Gowen, 27, from Chorley, was on bail awaiting sentence for assaulting an ex-partner when he killed 37-year-old Fiona Robinson last May.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Ms Robinson, of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, suffered nine rib fractures and was strangled in the attack.

Gowen, who admitted murder, was ordered to serve a minimum term of 20 years.

Gowen and Ms Robinson had been in a relationship for 15 months and she had moved to Chorley from Barrow-in-Furness to live with him.

Gowen, of Congress Street, called 999 at 2:15 BST on 26 May to report his partner had stopped breathing. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination showed she had rib and lumbar spine fractures, bite marks, bruising and cuts all over her face and body plus injuries consistent with strangulation, the CPS said.

Police said officers also found multiple holes in the walls of the address and a damaged suitcase close to her body.

Gowen gave paramedics and police a variety of contradictory explanations for her injuries, including that she had returned home from a night out with the injuries two days earlier.

He told police officers he thought she had had her drink spiked and had become ill.

CCTV captured Ms Robinson before she returned home after her night out with no injuries.

Footage found on Gowen's tablet from the morning of 25 May showed her with injuries to her back, left side and left arm.

Medical evidence revealed the injuries had been inflicted around the early hours of 25 May until the early hours of the 26 May, the CPS said.

'Concocted various lies'

Police said during their relationship, Ms Robinson's friends and colleagues raised concerns over injuries they had noticed and also the control they believed Gowen had over her.

Some of these led to reports to police and subsequent investigations and a disclosure under Clare's Law was made to Ms Robinson.

This revealed 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, police said.

Gowen had pleaded guilty to the assault in 2020 and was on bail awaiting sentence in relation to those offences when he killed Ms Robinson, the CPS said.

Fiona Robinson moved from Barrow-in-Furness to Chorley to live with Jason Gowen

In a statement read in court, Ms Robinson's two 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."

Speaking about Gowen, they added: "I feel anger towards him as he is the reason I didn't see my mum for the last 12 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, said: "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."

Tom Snape, of the CPS, said Gowen posed 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," he said.

He said he initially "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".

'Allowed her to die'

Det Supt Mark Haworth-Oates, of Lancashire Police, said: "Throughout her relationship with Gowen, Fiona was subjected to physical and psychological abuse, which culminated in the attack which killed her.

"Fiona was a very much-loved daughter, sister, mum and friend and 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."

He said Gowen "preyed on women he formed relationships with" and "put Fiona through an unimaginable ordeal, over a period of 24 hours, inflicting a large number of injuries upon her".

He added: "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."

Gowen was also sentenced to 40 weeks to run concurrently for assaults on a previous partner.

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