A dangerous offender who strangled a woman and then threatened to publish intimate videos of her has been jailed for more than four years.
Even when he was in custody awaiting a trial for those offences, Thomas Taylor continued to harass the woman from Lewes Prison.
Last Friday, Hove Crown Court heard Taylor’s victim was still struggling to come to terms with his abuse of her, which she said had been happening for several years.
He showed no remorse, shouting from the dock that she was a liar as he sobbed over the sentence passed by Recorder Patricia Hitchcock.
Sentencing, Ms Hitchcock said Taylor’s previous convictions, including throwing a molotov cocktail at an old schoolfriend over a £30 cannabis debt, helped convince her he was a dangerous offender.
She said: “There is a total lack of remorse or acceptance of your wrongdoing. It’s clear your victim has suffered lasting impacts from your treatment of her.
“What you did was designed to cause maximum distress and humiliation.
“[The witness initimidation] was committed in custody when you were well aware you should not be contacting your victim.
“There’s a high risk you will commit a future offence. Your counsel argues the risk is primarily to one person.
“But these offences took place over a period of nearly three years and show a pattern of behaviour. A lack of emotional regulation is reflected in your pursuit of your earlier victim.
“I have read and considered carefully character references from 10 of your friends and family who say you are an honest, reliable dedicated family man.
“Five prison officers have written in support and it’s clear you are a model prisoner.
“It’s very difficult to correlate this with the facts of this case and your previous offences. You have been convicted of 24 offences, six of them involving violence against the person.
“The initial offence I am sentencing you for today took place within a few months of your last release from prison.
“Despite the verdict of the jury you feel no remorse and don’t feel you did anything wrong. I agree with the conclusion of your pre-sentence report that you are dangerous and an extended licence is necessary for the protection of the public.”
Taylor was charged with intentional strangulation on 13 September, 2023, and threatening to share a film of the woman in an intimate state on 2 April 2025.
He appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court in April this year, when he was remanded in custody. He was also charged with assaulting her at the home they shared in Moulsecoomb in late 2024.
He was charged with witness intimidation after making calls to her from prison, leaving intimidating voicemails over a few weeks starting later that month.
He initially pleaded not guilty to all four offences, but changed his plea to the revenge porn and witness intimidation charges on the first day of his trial in September.
He was acquitted of the assault charge, but convicted of the strangulation.
In a victim impact statement read out in court by prosecution counsel William Saunders, Taylor’s victim said she had felt unsafe in her own home.
She said: “It would always be my fault somehow due to cocaine fuelled delusions. Even from prison he was threatening to destroy my life further.
“I tried to fix it behind closed doors when I should have phoned the police.”
Defending, Charlotte Arundale said: “This was a toxic relationship.
“In prison, he is now an employment representative. This is somebody who can be a positive member of a community, particularly when he’s not under the influence of either alcohol or drugs.”
Ms Hitchcock sentenced him to four and a half years for the strangulation, 21 months for the revenge porn and 32 months for the witness intimidation, all to run concurrently. She also imposed an extended licence of three years.
This means he will have to serve at least two thirds of the four and a half years in custody, and will be on licence until 2033.
The time already served since April will not count towards this sentence, as he was still on licence from the earlier arson offence.
Looks like he drinks Stella for breakfast and then spends the rest of the day painting flags on roundabouts.
How was he able to able to continue contacting her while he was in jail awaiting trial? Are there no checks on who a suspect is contacting?