A mother has spoken out about the abuse she suffered from her partner, who was ‘consumed by jealousy, paranoia and anger’ – and has now been jailed for 18 years.
Hannah Mellor, 33, of the town of Glossop, Derbyshire, experienced ‘one of the worst cases of abuse seen by police’ at the hands of her ex-partner Ben Fitton – including a ban on her brushing her teeth.
Left with decayed teeth, Ms Mellor explained: ‘He said, why would I need fresh breath? It could give me an opportunity to kiss someone else.’
But it was the final straw for her when Fitton threatened to go to her five-year-old son’s school and stab him after she tried to leave, as reported by Manchester Evening News: ‘I said, “No, you do what you want to me but you do not come for my boy”.’
Her former partner had also threatened to pour boiling water on her and ‘disfigure her for life’ if she did not perform a sex act on him. He strangled and raped her, subjecting her to ‘unspeakable levels of sexual violence’, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.
Feeling utterly hopeless, she tried to kill herself one Christmas Day.
Fitton was jailed for 18 years in September for subjecting his former partner to two years of vile sexual, physical, emotional and psychological abuse.
Ms Mellor has waived her right to anonymity to speak out about her horrifying ordeal as she wants to warn other women against Fitton and his terrifying abusive behaviour, as reported by ITV.
Hannah Mellor (pictured), 33, of the town of Glossop, Derbyshire, experienced two years of sexual, physical, emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of her ex-partner Ben Fitton – including a ban on her brushing her teeth
Leaving her with decayed teeth, Ms Mellor (pictured) said: ‘He said, why would I need fresh breath? It could give me an opportunity to kiss someone else’
Fitton (pictured) was jailed for 18 years in September for his vile crimes – and what Ms Mellor suffered has been dubbed ‘one of the worst cases of abuse seen by police’
The relentless abuse the 33-year-old mother was subjected to saw her ‘trapped’ and ‘in constant fear’, cut off from her loved ones, GMP said.
They added: ‘He regularly threatened Hannah and her family, accusing her of being unfaithful on many occasions or wanting to know her every movement and interaction.
‘He isolated her, destroyed her clothes, threatened her with violence and on one occasion left her with a significant knee injury which required surgery.’
She was physically attacked over and over, thrown out of bed on to the floor. Knowing tea and music were her favourite things, Fitton would throw cups of tea over her and stamp on her portable speaker, just to ruin them for her.
Fitton, ‘consumed by jealousy, paranoia and anger’, was also controlling and coercive towards his former partner.
He dictated when she was permitted to shower – saying bathing meant she was about to have sex with someone or had done so – and banned her from wearing makeup.
After her suicide attempt, Ms Mellor was taken to hospital and then sectioned – all the while, her ex-partner lurked in the car park, waiting for her.
She said: ‘My mum told all my family to prepare themselves to have to bury me.
The relentless abuse the 33-year-old mother (pictured) was subjected to saw her ‘trapped’ and ‘in constant fear’, cut off from her loved ones, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said
‘She thought he was going to go too far or do it on purpose or I would take my own life. She wasn’t far off wrong.’
Ms Mellor felt like she could not tell her loved ones what was happening. She felt it was her fault for getting into a relationship with Fitton and he said she and her family would be in danger if she told anyone – and that she would not be believed.
Fitton sent her thousands of messages and 2,000 audio recordings, including one which read: ‘Ugly fat mess, you deserved to be raped for the rest of your insignificant life.’
Others said, ‘I hate you’, while a particularly chilling example said, ‘I am going to kill your s*** son’.
Ms Mellor tried to leave her abhorrent abuser several times but he would threaten to paint a local housing estate with her mother’s blood, petrol bomb her brother’s house – and stab her son.
She said: ‘I just came to accept it, I was so used to it. Because of the way I was, I didn’t care what he did to me, I just thought he would do it no matter what. I can’t get out of it, I can’t get away from it, I can’t tell anyone.
‘It got to a point that I didn’t care anymore. I said it wasn’t a big issue if he killed me because being killed was probably better than living the life I was.’
But after Fitton’s callous threats to her son’s life, she made the courageous choice to contact GMP using their live chat, saying: ‘Hi I’m in an abusive relationship and I want to leave him but he’s threatening my son. He won’t stop harassing me and I don’t know what to do.’
GMP said of Fitton that on one occasion, he ‘left her with a significant knee injury which required surgery’
Her former partner, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of two counts of rape, non-fatal strangulation, grievous bodily harm and coercive and controlling behaviour in September last year.
He was sentenced to 18 years in prison at Manchester Crown Court last Friday and given three more years on extended licence as the judge said he was a ‘significant risk’. He is also under a restraining order.
The couple met through mutual friends before starting a relationship in April 2021, which was initially very positive – but only four weeks later, Fitton accused her of cheating on him, purely because she received a message from a male friend saying, ‘Cool’.
He slapped her, promising he would never do it again and saying he just temporarily saw red – but it was the start of months and months of abuse.
Fitton forced Ms Mellor to buy a doorbell with a camera – he kept accusing her of cheating and supposedly wanted to catch her in the act. He changed the password to the camera so she had no control of it.
She was not allowed to leave the house alone and was not permitted to answer the door without him there.
He would accuse her of cheating with male strangers she happened to stand next to in shops or the laundry room – and even with her own brother, father and stepfather. He spread a vicious false rumour she got pregnant by her brother and had an abortion.
Fitton claimed she was cheating on him with men who climbed through her bedroom window while he was out of the house.
Ms Mellor was physically attacked over and over, thrown out of bed on to the floor
He would make her put her phone between her legs on FaceTime so he could verify she had not had sex with another man. He told people on the street she was a ‘prostitute’.
When staying with her sister and her boyfriend, Fitton did not allow her to go to the toilet in the morning – because to him, it meant she had slept with her sister’s partner. Made to hold it until she got permission to go, she constantly got water infections.
After Fitton moved in with her, he never contributed to bills or rent, treating her money as shared funds.
She still has to force herself to use the toilet and shower, after so long not being allowed to do so freely.
She said: ‘He owned me, I was a possession, that’s what I felt like. I was not a person, I was his belonging, he wasn’t ever going to just let that go…
‘So I sat there and thought, “I’ll do whatever you want”.’
Ms Mellor, bravely speaking out about her ordeal, issued a message to women experiencing similar abuse, reassuring them there is a lot of help out there for them when they choose to reach out for it.
To those considering leaving an abusive partner, she said: ‘You have to make sure that you are strong and you are ready to be done forever. You have to make sure, not for anybody else but for yourself, you have to be strong for yourself.
Other messages Fitton sent Ms Mellor said, ‘I hate you’, while a particularly chilling example said, ‘I am going to kill your s*** son’
‘And no matter how hard you might think it is, keep going.’
She added: ‘There was a time I didn’t want a future, there was no future, but there’s just so much to look forward to now and not much to look back at.’
But despite her optimism about her future, Ms Mellor, in her victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing last week, revealed the lasting effect those two years of constant abuse had on her.
She said: ‘Everything I had worked for, being a good mother, being strong and independent and building friendship groups and good relationships with my family, was suddenly gone, Ben took that away from me.
‘Me and my family have agreed to move on and forgive each other for the things that happened but it remains difficult on both sides.
‘One of the things Ben set out to do was to destroy my relationship with my family and friends and both me and my family are determined to show him that he failed.
‘He didn’t get my son taken from me and he hasn’t broken us as a family. He doesn’t get to have that over us.
‘Building any relationships is going to be very difficult for me as I now constantly feel like people are trying to control me over the slightest little thing and if anybody speaks out of turn to me, I immediately challenge them and tell them not to talk to me like that.
He sent her thousands of messages and 2,000 audio recordings, including one which read: ‘Ugly fat mess, you deserved to be raped for the rest of your insignificant life’
‘I just don’t feel the same anymore, I used to be fluffy and soft, but I am very hard faced now when it comes to other people. I find it difficult to let anybody in.
‘It is my hope that Ben will not be able to harm anybody else in the future or treat any other person like he has me. I truly hope that nobody else will ever have to go through what I have been through.’
GMP said: ‘What Hannah has been through is nothing short of shocking and cruel and through her bravery, a dangerous abuser will spend a significant number of years behind bars for his crimes.
‘While we understand there is more to do, our solved outcomes for rape cases have continually been higher this year compared to last and detectives across the force remain dedicated to getting justice for victims.’
It added: ‘This result comes as we continue to transform the way we investigate offences such as rape under the nationally led Op Soteria Bluestone.’
Detective Constable Russ Clarke of Rochdale Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said: ‘Hannah has shown incredible levels of resilience and bravery. What she had to endure at the hands of Ben Fitton, nobody should have to go through.
‘One of the main motivations behind her coming forward was the hope that she could prevent Fitton from subjecting other women to the same treatment in the future.
‘This is a testament to her bravery, particularly when she had been threatened repeatedly if she ever spoke out.’
Following Fitton’s callous threats to her son’s life, she made the courageous choice to contact GMP using their live chat (pictured)
The detective constable went even further to say: ‘The levels of abuse, and controlling and coercive behaviour in this case are the worst I have ever seen in my time at GMP.
‘Fitton showed no remorse throughout this investigation; he continued to lie and cast aspersions on Hannah’s character, all of which were untrue, as she had to relive what she’d been subjected to throughout the court process.
‘He has taken no responsibility for his actions and behaviours.
‘Having crossed paths with Ben Fitton, Hannah’s life changed beyond recognition. I now hope, with the help of her supportive family, she can rebuild herself, her life and look forward to her future.
‘I understand how tough it can be to come forward in situations like this one, but I would encourage any victim who is currently suffering in silence to come forward to us so we can act.
‘There are also several local and national support services which are there to help, whether you have reported to us or not.’
Victims can report to the police by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency. They can also report online or use the live chat service, as Ms Mellor did.
Those who have been raped or sexually assaulted, or know someone who has, are encouraged not to suffer in silence and report it to the police or a support agency so they can access the support available.
