Man who sexually exploited women in Blackpool jailed

A man who sexually exploited two women through aggressive controlling and coercive behaviour has been jailed following our comprehensive investigation into his abusive behaviour.

A third victim was also put through years of hell at the hands of Lewis Radcliffe.

Radcliffe, 43, met his first victim on a dating site.

At first everything was good but then Radcliffe began heavily criticising everything she did, lowering her confidence until she had none left.

He controlled her movements, money and behaviour and demeaned her into sexual exploitive situations for his gain and stole from her.

He was physically abusive, verbally threatening and left her a shell of what she was before she met him.

The second woman he met, also online, found herself a similar abusive situation with Radcliffe. In one call he stated that “he could make her and her family disappear if she didn’t do want he asked” and also told her “screw this up and

A third victim who had been in an on and off relationship with Lewis for five years, was subject to prolonged physical and mental abuse.

He demeaned her, striped her of all confidence, threatened her with death and his own death if she ever reported him to the police.

He threatened to kill her sons and subjected her to horrific ongoing abuse.

Radcliffe, formerly of Knutsford Avenue, Stockport, but now of no fixed address, appeared at Preston Crown Court earlier this week and pleaded guilty to engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour and burglary. He was jailed for 55 months. A 10-year restraining order was also imposed.

In a statement to the court, the first victim wrote: “I am now a shell of the person I was. I am no longer me. Radcliffe has broken me down bit by bit during our time together until I was that weak. I felt as though I was trapped and couldn’t get out. It will stay with me forever what he has done to me, and I won’t get over it.”

In her statement to the court, the second victim wrote: “This incident with Lewis Radcliffe has left with sleepless nights due to the threats he made towards my family.

I constantly have nightmares that he has found my family and harmed them and then once I've woken from the nightmares, I find I can't return to sleeping due constantly thinking about it."

In her statement to the court, the third victim wrote: “It has taken a lot, for me to report this to the police and engage in the investigation however I didn't want this to happen to anyone else. Even though I know at the moment that Lewis is locked up I still feel fearful in Blackpool. I have even decided to move out of the area to try and protect myself and move forward.

“Before I met him, I was working, I had a home that I loved and a life that I enjoyed; Radcliffe has taken all of that away from me.

“Radcliffe would constantly call me while I was at work, he would threaten to show up and smash the place up if

I didn’t talk to him or didn’t answer so eventually it made my life seem easier to just walk out of my job.

“He has also damaged my relationships with my family and put them through years of hell as well as myself. They believed that I would end up dead because of him, my mum still panics if she cannot get hold of me because she immediately thinks I’ve gone back to him or that he has hurt me, even though he has been in prison for over a year. He used my family to control me, telling me he would kill my sons to keep me behaving.”

DS Jen Mills, Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Co-Ordinator for Lancashire Police, said: “Radcliffe is an individual who poses a danger to women through his abhorrent attitude and controlling and coercive behaviour towards them.

“The behaviour Radcliffe engaged in towards the three victims in this case was truly appalling, treating them as commodities who were there to serve his every need. The ongoing impact that his behaviour has on these three women is truly immense. The three women have shown immense bravery and with their support and the support of the CPS we have been able to prosecute a very dangerous man.

“If you or anybody you know is in an abusive relationship, I would strongly urge you to contact the police, knowing you will be listened to, believed and that we will do everything in our power to put the perpetrator before the courts.”

Report it online via https:// doitonline.lancashire.police. uk/ or call 101. In an emergency always call 999.