'Weird' Leeds boyfriend jailed for odd campaign in which he pretended to be partner's ex
A controlling boyfriend who sent emails to his partner pretending to be from her ex has been described as “weird”.
Arron Littlewood’s behaviour was so bizarre, the victim became terrified and slept with a knife at hand until he was arrested and remanded.
The forklift driver would call and message her constantly, threaten to sleep with other women if she did not meet him and lied about being attacked.
He put her window through with a brick, then began emailing her, pretending to be from a former partner and confessing to causing the damage.
The 38-year-old was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week after admitting a charge of coercive and controlling behaviour.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said his showed bizarre behaviour from the start of the their relationship.
She said: “I can’t understand why anyone would play with your head from day one. It’s been really strange. It’s the weirdest thing I have ever been through.
“I can’t believe someone put me through this kind of stuff. It even got to the stage where I was sleeping with a knife.
“He has gaslighted me from day one. He made me feel vulnerable, inadequate and there was something wrong with me.
“He humiliated me and isolated me. It’s soul destroying what this man put me through.”
Prosecutor David Hewitt said they pair met at a party in December 2023 and the relationship was “intense” from the start due to his constant messaging.
Mr Hewitt said the messages “became increasingly desperate” and he would start to threaten infidelity if she did not reply quickly.
In late February 2024, she went for a night out with a friend but Littlewood constantly messaged her, asking her to meet him.
He then told her had been assaulted and she needed to tend to him, but she refused.
Out of spite, he then went to her home and hurled the brick through the window while her son was home alone, leaving him terrified.
The woman suspected Littlewood was responsible but he denied it. He then began sending her anonymous emails and messages from supposedly other men, including her ex, whom she had not spoken with in years.
Littlewood would ask to visit her home, and even if she said no, he would turn up regardless.
In September last year, she finally informed the police and he was arrested. He denied wrongdoing during his interview and bailed but under strict conditions not to contact the woman.
He ignored that and emailed her from anonymous social media accounts. He even asked to meet her in The Station pub in Crossgates.
He was arrested again and remanded. Littlewood, of Grayrigg Close, Halton, appeared in court this week via a video link from HMP Leeds.
He has three previous convictions for four offences, including battery.
Mitigating, Giles Grant said it was not a “typical” coercive case because they did not live together.
He said Littlewood had since lost his job as a forklift driver and was struggling in prison. However, he said he had withdrawn from drugs and alcohol while on remand, and the court was told that it made him realise of the “extreme nature” of his behaviour.
Mr Grant said Littlewood was remorseful for his actions.
But the judge, Recorder Imran Shafi KC, told Littlewood it had to be immediate custody.
He told him: “You manipulated her early on in the relationship, and when that did not work, you terrorised her.”
He jailed him for 25 months and gave him a indefinite-length restraining order to keep him away from the woman.