Coercive control is defined as a person using repeated patterns of physical or non-physical abuse used to hurt, scare, intimidate, threaten or control someone. NSW criminalised the offence in July 2024.
Last week Fairleigh, 34, became the first person in NSW to serve prison time for coercive control. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 15 months.
After Samantha left the relationship in November 2024, a specialist detective began investigating Fairleigh’s coercive control, with Samantha providing hundreds of abusive text messages as evidence. Fairleigh was issued an AVO.
But he continued to contact Samantha throughout December and January, using banking transactions to send messages and a secondary number to pose as a nurse, claiming Fairleigh was in “critical condition” in an intensive care unit.
In January 2025, he was arrested and charged with coercive control, along with stalking and six AVO breaches. From jail, he continued to contact Samantha, writing letters and sending them to his mother to pass on.
Court records described Fairleigh having an “utter disregard” for bail conditions and the AVO. Police argued he presented an “unreasonable risk” to Samantha and other women, noting he was still active on the dating app Bumble.
NSW Police recorded 386 coercive control incidents between July 2024 and September 2025, resulting in 18 charges. The first person convicted of the offence in December 2024 was issued an Intensive Corrections Order.
Fairleigh’s sentence is the first to result in jail time. With time served, he will be released on parole in April.
In 97 per cent of intimate partner domestic violence homicides cases, the victim had experienced coercive and controlling behaviours before being killed.