A former teacher subjected his wife to a regime of controlling and abusive behaviour lasting years, a court has heard. Christopher Haynes manipulated, dominated and degraded his partner, dictating who she could see, who was allowed to visit the family home, and what music was played in the house. The defendant also routinely told his partner he had powerful friends in the Freemasons and that he could arrange to have her killed with just one phone call.
The court heard that the defendant made repeated references to having strong ties to the Freemasons and told his wife it would only take “one call, one bullet” to have her killed by his contacts in the powerful organisation. The prosecutor said Haynes also engaged in frequent bouts of heavy drinking, and that the complainant would later describe how home life became like “walking on eggshells every day”.
With a 10 per cent discount for his guilty plea Haynes was sentenced to 21 months in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was also made subject to a life-long restraining order banning him from contacting his ex.
Source: Former teacher who abused wife said Freemasons contacts would see her dead in ‘one call, one bullet’