Man jailed for more than seven years after domestic and sexual abuse ordeal which included incidents in Luton

Wayne Munt, 38, of no fixed address but who hails from Leighton Buzzard, was jailed on Tuesday (19 November). He pleaded guilty to six breaches of a restraining order, two counts of actual bodily harm, theft, threats to kill, harassment with violence and threats to destroy property.

On 21 January this year, Munt gained entry to the property of his ex-partner through a window, and assaulted her. She had her phone in her hand to call the police, but Munt took it from her and only left the property when her friends intervened.

Three days later, on 24 January, his ex-partner endured around four hours of abuse at his hands.

At around 10pm, Munt and his friend picked up his victim in a van after seeing her at a pub, and took her to a supermarket where Munt asked her for money. As she walked away from him after refusing to give him cash, he grabbed her handbag and pulled her to the floor. Again when she tried to call police, Munt assaulted her.

He then picked her up by her hood, put her back in the van and took her to another cashpoint where she withdrew £60. He continued to ask her for money, and assaulted her when she said no. He then forcibly took £40 from her.

As Munt’s friend drove to another address in Luton, Munt threatened the victim continuously, telling her that he would throw her out of the car.

When they arrived, he continued to assault her.

Munt’s friend then took the pair to Heath and Reach where he dropped them off. As his ex-partner walked towards her friend’s address, Munt grabbed her, assaulted her and pushed her into a bush.

On arriving at her friend’s address, his victim barricaded herself into a room and Munt fell asleep on a sofa.

A month later, between 14 February and 16 February, she received over 70 phone calls which she believed to be from Munt.

In his interview, Munt answered no comment to all questions put to him.

Detective Sergeant Katherine Rivers said: “This is a significant sentence and I am hopeful that Munt’s victim can now put this dreadful incident behind her knowing that her abuser is behind bars. Munt thoroughly deserves his time in prison for the trauma he caused to his ex-partner, and I hope we have made our community safer by putting him there.

“As a team, Emerald will continue to work to secure justice for the victims of this type of crime. Nobody should be subject to abuse like this, and putting perpetrators behind bars so they can’t keep offending is why we do what we do.

“I hope this case serves as an example to anyone else dealing with abuse that they can come forward, and we will listen to them.”

If you have been affected by crime, the Signpost Hub offers free and confidential support to victims in Bedfordshire, whether it has been reported to police or not and irrespective of where and when the crime occurred.

Contact 0800 0282887 or visit www.signpostforbedfordshire.com for further information.