Man, 28, sentenced for campaign of domestic abuse

A 28-year-old man who launched such a torrid campaign of abuse against his partner that the officer investigating the case called it “the worst sustained and systematic abuse I have ever witnessed”, has been handed a prison sentence.

Like many domestic abusers, Meshach Clement-Graham, previously of Northampton, bided his time when he first entered into a relationship with the survivor in 2018, acting charming and compassionate.

“You didn’t start off as a monster,” wrote the woman in her victim impact statement. “It was a calculated, dangerously slow and gradual process. You consistently did the work you needed to break me, like clockwork. You mixed your abuse with sporadic nice treatment, to keep me thinking maybe it wasn’t so bad. You gaslighted me and manipulated me until truth became a lie and a lie became a truth.”

In a single night, Clement-Graham phoned the woman 80 times before turning up at her house threatening to harm himself with scissors if she didn’t let him in. This led to him being sentenced to a two year community order and remanded into custody as he breached a number of domestic violence protection orders in committing these offences.

Upon his release from prison, he reconnected with the victim and the cycle of abuse started again with Clement-Graham overwhelming her with abusive messages, stalking her to her workplace, her son’s school, and her friends and family’s addresses.

Violence was also used over the course of their relationship. On one occasion, Clement-Graham strangled the woman, causing her to black out, and stabbed a knife into the bed near her head when she came to.

She said: “I suffer from constant nightmares replaying the last day I suffered at your hands, attempting to scream for my life and no noise leaving my mouth because you had your hands squeezed so tightly around my throat. When I then regained consciousness I begged you to let me call my son to say goodbye.”

Whenever the woman would threaten to go to the police during their relationship, Clement-Graham would make threats to kill himself or release a video he called his “insurance policy” which was of the woman asleep with the lower half of her body exposed.

In a huge display of bravery and trust, she reported the abuse to Northamptonshire Police in May 2022, leading to the arrest of Clement-Graham and charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, stalking, and two counts of breaching a non-molestation order.

After pleading guilty to all four offences at Northampton Crown Court on November 21, 2022, he was sentenced at the same court this week (April 4) to two years and eight months in prison. A 10-year restraining order was also imposed.

Lead Investigator, Detective Constable Tom Rosignoli, of Northamptonshire Police’s Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “First of all, I would like to commend the most important person in this case – the survivor, for putting her trust in us.

“Coming forward and reporting this abuse was nothing short of incredible and I hope the guilty pleas and subsequent sentence will allow her to move on with the very bright future she has ahead of her.

“I have worked in the Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit for a number of years and I have never witnessed such sustained and systematic abuse.

“Reading the volume of abusive and manipulative messages directed to this woman by Clement-Graham and looking through all of the evidence genuinely left me feeling drained each day so I could only imagine how the survivor must have felt having to live through it.

“I hope this case demonstrates the seriousness with which we take cases such as this and that we never underestimate the bravery it takes to come forward. We will believe you, we will support you and we will do everything we can to get you away from the offender.”

In the final words of her victim impact statement, the survivor said: “The journey I am on to recover from what you did to me isn’t going to be linear, but for my son, I won’t stop until I am able to be the person who he deserves every day - he is my reason.”

If you need our help please ring 101 or in an emergency – 999. If you would prefer to report online, you can visit www.northants.police.uk/ro.

If you have been a victim of a domestic abuse but are not yet ready to speak to the police, please visit www.voicenorthants.org or call Voice on 0300 303 1965. Voice is a support service for anyone living in Northamptonshire, regardless of when, where or how crime happened to you. Services are free, confidential and you don’t have to have reported anything to the police.