Brother of murdered Ashfield man 'terrorised' his on-off girlfriend to the extent she had to be sectioned

Zacharious Jackson would demand to see the woman’s phone to try to find out who she had been in contact with – even after their ‘on-off’ relationship had come to an end, Nottingham Crown Court was told on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Chad reported that Jackson’s brother, Samuel Donner, died after John Jefferies ‘used his car as a weapon’ – running him over in his Range Rover after he kicked in his windscreen and ‘threatened to have him killed by the Irish mafia’.

Jackson, 23, of Bakewell Walk, Mansfield, had begun his campaign of terror in October 2020, even standing next to the woman and threatening her with violence when he forced her to withdraw a complaint to police the following month.

Esther Harrison, prosecuting, told the court that in December he had parked his car across her driveway – forcing her to walk to work – and drove away at speed when police turned up.

Jackson had reached speeds of 80mph in a 40mph zone, ran red lights and drove on the wrong side of the road in the police pursuit along Jubilee Way, Eakring Road and Oak Tree Lane.

She told the court: “She and the defendant were in a relationship for about two-and-a-half years and he was very demanding in his behaviour towards her and would often check her phone to see who she had been in contact with.

“He told her how good his life was now that he was single, then she saw him at the gym and he said he was going to come around later to check her phone. He called her a slag, and said he didn’t like some of the people she was in contact with.

“He checked her work email, even though she asked him not to, and she refused to download Snapchat. She had changed her passcode after the incident at the gym, but he found a picture of a penis and that made him very angry. She had to be sectioned for 28 days.”

Jackson had then tried to strangle the woman before turning up a month later and standing next to her while she called police and said she wanted to retract her statement.

He had admitted charges of assault, criminal damage, witness intimidation, dangerous driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance at an earlier hearing.

Mitigating, Claire Moran told the court that Jackson was currently on remand and was on 23 hours per day lockdown in prison. He also takes anti-psychotic medication which makes it difficult to get out of bed – regularly missing the half-hour he is allowed from his cell each day.

She added that his brother, Samuel Donner, was murdered last year.

Judge Julie Warburton jailed Jackson for three years, banned him from driving for 36 months, and issued a 10-year restraining order – banning him from contacting his victim or her two children.

Sentencing, she said: “You terrorised this woman – the relationship had a background of controlling behaviour, with you constantly checking up on her, and she was sectioned, in part, due to how she had been made to feel.”