Jordan Gregory: 'Cowardly' Sheffield man held ex hostage in her own home and hit her in front of her baby son

A Sheffield man who held his former partner hostage in her own home and beat her in front of her baby son a matter of months after subjecting another ex-girlfriend to similar treatment has been locked up. 

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Jordan Gregory and his then partner, complainant one, broke up in May 2023 after a short-lived relationship.

Gregory, however, refused to accept the relationship was over and went to the complainant’s Sheffield home on May 20, 2023 to ‘sort things out,’ the court heard, during a hearing held on December 5, 2023. 

Describing the events that followed, the judge, Recorder Mark Giuliani, told Gregory: “Knowing she had brought the relationship to an end, you went to her home, uninvited, you barged in. She said she knew immediately that you were in a bad mood.”

“You were saying you wanted to sort things out…she had made it very clear that she did not want to sort things out.”

Recorder Giuliani said Gregory, of Emerson Crescent, Parson Cross, Sheffield subsequently followed complainant one into her bedroom, who had taken her one-year-old son with her into the room, and ‘persistently asked her to get back together’. 

“You made an unfounded allegation that she had cheated on you, and demanded to check her phone,” Recorder Giuliani said, adding that Gregory then turned off her phone and followed her back into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her and her son. 

“She considered that you took her phone to prevent her from calling for assistance, because, effectively, what you did from that point on was you held her hostage in her own home.

“She said: ‘What you’re holding me hostage in my own room with my son,’ and you said: ‘Yes, that’s what I’ve got to do’. 

“You sat in front of her bedroom door for three hours…she was frightened, not only for  herself but also for the fact she had her one-year-old child with her…you, at one point, threw her to the floor and said: ‘You’re going nowhere,’ causing a graze to her elbow.”

Recorder Giuliani said complainant one subsequently fell asleep with her child in her arms, which he suggested, was due to the fear that she felt for her son’s safety. 

He suggested the fact that complainant one fell asleep was not an indicator that she felt safe in Gregory’s presence, because she clearly still felt ‘imprisoned’ and ‘constrained’ in the room. 

Complainant one awoke at just before 11am the following morning, with Gregory, aged 30, asleep next to her, and tried to sneak out with her son, but he woke up before she could and she and her son remained there for two more hours, the court heard.

Recorder Giuliani said: “You only let her go when she told you she would not ring the police.”

In a statement read to the court, complainant one said that not only had Gregory held her hostage in her own home with her child, but she had also had a ‘near miss where I was lunged at with a knife’. 

“I’m genuinely fearful of the defendant, and am convinced this will not be the last incident,” she added. 

The court heard how Gregory subjected another former partner, complainant two, to a similar ordeal during an incident that took place in Derby 18 months earlier in November 2021. 

Prosecutor, Amy Earnshaw, described how, while in drink, Gregory subjected complainant to abuse, calling her a s**g, and claiming she had ‘slept with black men,’ before throwing an e-cigarette at her living room clock, causing £50 of damage. 

The court heard how Gregory subsequently woke the complainant up between 1 and 2am in the morning by subjecting her to more verbal abuse, and proceeded to assault her by throwing his e-cigarette at her, causing a cut to her upper lip, and striking her at least seven times with the palm of his hand to her face and stomach. 

Gregory also forced complainant two to delete a number of contacts from her phone.

In her statement, complainant two said that following the incident, she has been plagued by flashbacks and nightmares, has struggled - both with her mental health and sleeping-  and no longer leaves her flat, making her reliant on her new partner to go shopping for her. 

Referring to Gregory's police interview in relation to the Derby incident, Recorder Giuliani said that Gregory acted 'like other men' in his position and acted in a 'cowardly' manner, seeking to blame the victim for 'bringing about her own injuries'.

At an earlier hearing, Gregory pleaded guilty to charges of false imprisonment and assault by beating in relation to the Sheffield incident. He was found guilty of assault by beating and criminal damage in relation to the Derby matter following a trial, during which he was not legally represented. 

Ms Earnshaw said Gregory has a criminal record of 23 previous offences from 16 court appearances, with eight of the matters relating to offences against the person including common assault; battery and assaulting an emergency worker.

Defending, Rebecca Tanner referred Recorder Giuliani to a letter written by the defendant.

Recorder Giuliani said he struggled to read all of the letter due to the handwriting, but summarised what he was able to read as ‘blaming’ his criminal conduct on alcohol and the stresses of lockdown. 

Recorder Giuliani suggested lockdown could not be blamed for Sheffield incident, which took place in May this year when lockdown was ‘well and truly over’. 

Ms Tanner said Gregory has ‘genuine remorse’ and during his time spent on remand has now come to a realisation about his misuse of alcohol.

She added that Gregory is now ‘alcohol free’ and is determined to address his issues with it during his time in custody.

“He had a very difficult upbringing…he accepts he’s abused alcohol as a way of trying to cope,” Ms Tanner continued, adding that Gregory has had periods of employment involved with ground work. 

She said it was after he lost his most recent job that he began drinking again. 

Recorder Giuliani jailed Gregory for 40 months, and granted restraining orders which prohibit Gregory from contacting complainant one for eight years, and complainant two for five years.