Louis Martin had originally given his new partner a false name
A mum was left horrified after a Google search uncovered her new boyfriend’s shocking history. Louis Martin’s short term partner discovered he had provided her with a false name, later learning he was a convicted rapist.
The sex offender then struggled to come to terms with their break-up, subjecting her to weeks of relentless harassment and abuse. He even beat her in front of her six year old daughter.
Liverpool Crown Court was told yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, that Martin had previously been found guilty of rape in 2007 and placed on the sex offenders’ register for life. This requires him to inform police of any alternative names he uses and whenever he stays at properties where children are living.
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However, Derek Jones, prosecuting, outlined how Martin, from Wheatfield Road in Cronton, Merseyside, began a relationship with a 26 year old woman in February this year after claiming his name was Louis Bonner. Despite her making clear that this “wasn’t anything serious”, the defendant frequently spent nights at her Wirral home, with her young child present.
She became concerned towards the end of March when she awoke to discover Martin going through her phone, with the 41 year old having also accused her of seeing other men. On another occasion, he asked her whether she had ever served time in prison, at which point he confessed to his own previous incarceration but stated that it had been for other matters, reports the Liverpool Echo.
This led to his partner conducting searches on Google, upon which she found news articles relating to Martin’s rape conviction. She recalled “feeling faint” at this revelation and being left concerned for the safety of her daughter.
At this, Martin seemingly became aware of her discovery and told her: “I know what you’ve found out. I’m going to go.”
Despite having pleaded with her that the sex offence was “a long time ago, when he was much younger”, she told Martin that she wanted to end their relationship as a result. But Mr Jones said: “The defendant simply could not accept that.
“Over the next couple of months, she describes the contact from him as relentless. He would turn up at her house, contact her sister and even started contacting her friends, adding them on social media. In one message, he said he would kick her door in and turn up at her sister’s house.”
The victim subsequently reported having been on a night out in Liverpool city centre on April 26, during which Martin repeatedly contacted her and “demanded to know where she was” while ordering her to send pictures in order to prove her whereabouts. He then went on to tell her that he was in a bar next door to one which she was visiting and terrifyingly warned her: “Leave or I will kill everyone with you.”
With the complainant having lost her front door key during the course of the evening, Martin told her that he had it before driving her home and staying with her overnight. He would “turn up all the time”, at which she would allow him inside due to being “scared for herself and her daughter”, with her ex having stated that he would otherwise climb inside via scaffolding at the rear of her address.
Martin went on to threaten to kill himself if she did not resume the relationship and told her sister in another message: “I’m obsessed with her. I’m not going to leave her alone. If she thinks she can get away from me, she’s got no chance.”
On May 4, Martin then arrived at her property and began banging on her door before taking her phone and leaving. He was then said to have driven to the Cheshire area to dispose of the device, although a member of the public discovered the mobile and contacted her dad in order to return it.
Martin, who in the interim had given her a new iPhone and SIM card in an apparent attempt to have her lose her saved contacts, was thereafter said to have “insisted” on driving her to collect her old phone. He then snatched it from her, kicked her, grabbed her to the back of her neck and held her head down, causing her to bang into the car while her daughter was present in vehicle.
His persistent contact then continued over the following days until Martin was ultimately arrested on May 8. In a statement which was read to the court on her behalf, she said: “From the beginning, I made it clear I didn’t want anything serious. His behaviour quickly became controlling and intrusive.
“I struggle to get through daily tasks that once felt normal. I barely sleep, usually only two or three hours per night. When I do, I relive everything in my head, waking up exhausted. There hasn’t been single day where I haven’t thought about what happened and what he might do next. I’m scared that if I let someone in the same thing will happen again.”
Martin has a total of five previous convictions for nine offences, also including failing to comply with notification requirements in 2016 and 2022. He meanwhile received three years for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behaviour in 2017.
Peter White, defending, told the court that Martin had suffered a “cardiac episode” in the police station following his arrest, thereafter undergoing heart surgery and being kept under the guard of armed officers in hospital for three weeks. He added: “It has to be accepted on his behalf that his offending is aggravated by his previous convictions.
“Albeit there have been numerous breaches of the notification requirement, it was imposed some 20 years ago. There has been no repetition of any index offence. I have to accept that the controlling and coercive behaviour is an aggravating feature.
“It would appear that offending was slightly longer in scope. It would appear more serious than the facts of this case. Since those custodial sentences imposed in 2017, it is right to say that Mr Martin has not received an immediate custodial sentence.
“He tells me that he was in bad place himself. He was aware that he was having very serious heart failure. He was neglecting his own health to a degree, placing his head in the sand. He was holding down some employment for a family business in property management.
“He feels better and more balanced now on remand in custody. He is extremely worried about his health. He is aware, at age 41, that being diagnosed with any serious cardiac issues could be a ticking time bomb.
“He wants to put this matter behind him and, when he has his liberty, concentrate on himself. He accepts that will be some time. He tells me that he is making progress in custody. He hopes to be given a job as a wing cleaner. He, quite simply, wants to use his time as best as he can.”
Martin pleaded guilty to controlling or coercive behaviour, assault and failing to comply with notification requirements. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was locked up for 27 months and handed a 10-year restraining order.
Sentencing, Recorder Richard Pratt KC said: “She made it plain to you that she did not want to have any form of commitment with you. You refused to accept that and, increasingly, were staying at her house.
“When you got wind of the fact that she was aware of your past, you became all the more intrusive. You gave her a false name and lied about the nature of your conviction.
“You began to issue her with threats. You demanded and took possession of her phone and even went to the extent of providing her with another phone. This is classic controlling and coercive behaviour and was accompanied, on many occasions, by threats of violence. That was a serious and unpleasant assault, made all the worse because it was in the presence of her daughter.
“You failed to notify the police that you were using a different name and were staying at a house in which a child was living. I am quite sure you knew that was a requirement you had to fulfil, not least because you have faced previous offences involving this failure. This is the fifth time you have committed this particular offence.”
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