Chelmsford: Victim speaks as man jailed for domestic assault

Officers have praised the bravery of a woman who was violently attacked by her ex-partner in her home.

Jesse Mayhand forced his way into the woman’s home in Chelmsford at about 5pm on May 12, 2021, before launching an attack.

The woman was on the phone to a police call handler as the assault began.
Mayhand began punching the woman before putting her in a headlock. During the attack, the victim lost consciousness.

The call handler continued to keep the line open as the 999 call went silent and officers arrived in the room with four minutes.

They found Mayhand on top of the victim. He was quickly dragged off and the woman was taken to safety.

She had sustained a number of facial injuries.

Mayhand, 28, of Hurricane Place, in Ipswich, was arrested at the scene and later charged with actual bodily harm.

He denied the charge but was found guilty after a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in March.

On Monday, he was sentenced to 20 months in prison and was made the subject of a five-year restraining order.

Detective Sergeant Tom Whelan-Bassett, of our Domestic Abuse Investigation Team, led the investigation. He said:

“I would like to pay tribute to the victim in this case for her bravery that she has shown throughout the investigation and indeed in court.
“I know these last 11 months will not have been easy but her strength and courage has been inspirational.
“Most importantly, her actions have helped to put Mayhand behind bars and even when he is released, a restraining order will be in place.
“Reporting crimes like this can be very difficult for a victim, given the sensitive nature of it.
“We have a dedicated team in place to investigate domestic crimes and bring perpetrators to justice and I would encourage anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation of abuse to come forward and speak to the police.
“I would also like to thank the call handler who remained on the line in order to guide the attending officers to the scene. Without their attendance, I have no doubt the victim would have come to further harm.”

In a statement, the brave victim said:

“The police have been great. They helped me access the support which has been such a big help the whole way through.
“And [DS] Tom [Whelan-Bassett] has been really good for me, really helpful and helped explain everything that would happen. I’ve really appreciated his help.
“This isn’t something that happened out of thin air; there had been abuse in the relationship before but it wasn’t things that I reported.
“It was fear that stopped me doing it; would people believe me? Was I making it up in my own head?
“When you’re in that situation, you never know it is as big as it is – you minimise it. But I would definitely encourage anyone who is in the same situation as I was to come forward and report it. Trust the police and call for help.
“I stayed in that situation thinking it would get better but, in the end, it nearly got me killed. I will remember this for the rest of my life; my last thought before I passed out was, I’m never going to see my son again. it was the most awful experience of my life.”