Jealous boyfriend who belittled girlfriends is convicted
Jealous boyfriend who belittled his successful JLR engineer girlfriend by calling her a ‘f***ing graduate’ and used a Ring doorbell camera to spy on her is convicted of coercive behaviour
- Auditor Jonathan Maybury, 38, belittled JLR engineer Stephanie Andrews, 33
- Cheshire man found guilty of coercive behaviour and faces up to five years’ jail
A jealous boyfriend who belittled his high-flying girlfriend after he became jealous of her successful career is facing jail for domestic abuse.
Auditor Jonathan Maybury, 38, employed a range of intimidating and controlling behaviours against Jaguar Land Rover engineer Stephanie Andrews, 33, after they met while working at the motor company’s Halewood plant, Liverpool.
Maybury, from Widnes, Cheshire, was found guilty of coercive behaviour after a three-day trial at Warrington Magistrates Court, and faces up to five years in jail.
During their eight-year relationship Maybury mockingly called Miss Andrews ‘the f***ing graduate,’ drained her of money, threatened to kill her puppy, had her pet rabbit rehomed and used a Ring security camera to spy on her.
The couple got together in 2014 after they met as work colleagues and moved in together after just five months.
Auditor Jonathan Maybury, 38, (pictured outside Warrington Magistrates Court today) employed a range of intimidating and controlling behaviours against Jaguar Land Rover engineer Stephanie Andrews, 33, after they met while working at the motor company’s Halewood plant, Liverpool
The abuse began after Miss Andrews, who also has a second job as an app tester, used her grandmother’s inheritance to pay for a luxury home for herself and Maybury in the prestigious village of Hale, near Liverpool.
She had attained a first class degree in engineering at the University of Surrey in Guildford in 2012 before joining Vauxhall Motors and then Jaguar Land Rover where she was promoted to advance manufacturing engineer. Maybury was a Government regulated auditor at the same plant.
Miss Andrews wept as she told the hearing: ‘I had to pay for everything, Jonathan would spend the money on what he wanted. I paid for the drive to be re-done and the roof to be fixed. Every penny I had went into the home.
‘Although we were fine in the beginning, in 2015 Jonathan became jealous and controlling over me. I wasn’t allowed to go out. He would create a scene if I wanted to see friends or family, and ask why would I want to do that.
‘He would also ask where I was going and when I would be coming back. If I answered back he would call me a ”psycho” and a ”lunatic” and say there is something wrong with me.
‘During these arguments, he would physically block the exits and I was very intimidated.
‘He made it untenable for me to do basic things and it made me feel like the smallest person in the world.
‘He even insinuated that I was having an affair with his 50-year-old brother.’
In one incident the couple were visiting Maybury’s sister in the Wirral when Miss Andrews realised she left something at home.
She said: ‘I was terrified to tell him because I knew what would happen. When I did tell him he screamed and shouted at me and for the rest of the journey and he was driving erratically.
Miss Andrews (pictured today) said: ‘He would also ask where I was going and when I would be coming back. If I answered back he would call me a ”psycho” and a ”lunatic” and say there is something wrong with me’
‘At one point someone cut him up and he intentionally went out of his way to tailgate the car, which made us late.
‘Afterwards he stepped out the car and acted as if nothing happened. I did not understand how someone could go from that to being friendly with someone that wasn’t me.’
In June 2018, Miss Andrews bought a new puppy, Kai but Maybury flew into a rage when it chewed a cigarette packet. ‘Jonathan started effing and blinding and saying I’m going to kill that dog and bury it in the garden,’ she said.
‘He put the dog crate outside and wanted it to sleep outside that night. He said ‘watch what happens if you bring that dog in’. I bought it in and slept with it all night because I feared what he was going to do with it.’
‘The next day he convinced me that I was overreacting, as he always did, and said I had lost my mind. A year later I decided to rehome the dog.
‘In the summer of 2018, Jonathan’s motorbike was nearly stolen from their front garden and as a result he installed a Ring doorbell and four other security cameras.
‘He started to use them to monitor what I was doing, tracking my comings and goings. He would notice if I came in slightly late and bring it up later, ”like why did you come home 10 minutes late on this night then” whenever we had an argument.’
‘I hated feeling like I was being watched in my own home. At one time I went up into the loft to get some things down and during this time Jonathan tried to call me but I couldn’t pick up because I was busy.
‘When I came down from the loft he got angry at me for never answering my phone. Soon after when I turned 30 he bought me an apple watch – not because I wanted one, but because ”I would then have no excuse for not responding to his 40 messages a day”.
‘I also had a Fitbit which I used regularly at the time and I think that this was a way that he could get a hold of me at any time, I no longer had an excuse not to answer his calls. He would make note of my schedule and start to say things like, ”why were you late home from work the other day, you’re an hour late”.
‘This happened very often.
‘In 2020, I started another job as an app tester but I didn’t want him to know about it.
‘I couldn’t tell him because I knew how badly he would act. He was draining all my money and I was struggling.
‘I felt like there was no way to get out of that situation. I was in a total daze, which wasn’t helped by the fact that it was lockdown at the time.’
‘In one instance I went to Devon to see my uncle but when I returned on the Sunday I found my pet rabbit was not there.
‘I went to ask Jonathan where it went and he said that he re-homed it. He said that I never looked after the rabbit then made a comment about it knowing it would make me upset.
‘We never agreed to rehoming it. I loved that rabbit and to this day I still don’t know where it is and if it is safe.
The pair moved in together after five months. At one stage Miss Andrew offered Maybury £25,000 to leave the property (pictured), but he refused
‘I asked him to move out but he refused.’
At one stage she even offered him £25,000 if he left the property, but he didn’t take the offer.
Miss Andrews added: ‘I said I want put the house on the market and got four offers, one for £400,000. He refused all these offers, saying he would only accept an offer of £425,000.
‘It’s my fault – I should have left. I realised how much control over me he had and I didn’t want it anymore.’
Miss Andrews’ best friend Sarah Knight said: ‘Before meeting Jonathan, Stephanie was outgoing and social but she started to become withdrawn and not very confident in herself and I realised how suffocating Jonathan was.
‘On one occasion I saw Stephanie laugh at something on her phone and when he asked her to show him she refused. He then took her to the next room and shouted at her. I heard him say ”who the fuck are you talking to”.’
The victim’s sister Danielle Maskell said: ‘He was trying to convince everyone else that she was crazy, angry and mad all the time and the gas lighting would happen every time she visited. He would often employ the silent treatment. She is always snappy and on edge these days.’
Miss Andrews’ mother Janet said: ‘He kept belittling her, calling her a ‘f***ing graduate’.
‘He said to me, ”I love her and call her princess all the time” but I told him, ”that that is not enough.”
‘I told him that was not love but control. Before the relationship, Stephanie was bubbly and outgoing but now she’s gaunt and has lost a lot of weight.’
In his defence Maybury said Miss Andrews made him sign a declaration of trust on the house so she could protect some of the inheritance money she put into it.
Maybury said: ‘We did argue but it was nothing more than that. I worked shifts and it would be a number of days before we saw each other.
‘In the last months of our relationship, me and Stephanie were living separate lives.
‘When she got the app tester job she would lock herself away in the upstairs room on calls. I am not Stephanie’s keeper. If she wanted another job that was up to her.
‘As regards the house, the local estate agent gave us an estimation of £425,000 and above on the house. So when we got offers below that I thought we shouldn’t take them up and instead leave the house on the market for a few more weeks.
‘The house eventually went for £396,500.’
He added: ‘The final months of our relationship were pretty silent and I was not aware of half of the problems that were going on during the relationship.
‘I only called her a psycho a couple of times during our eight years together. We never talked about our financial issues.
‘Stephanie would pay for the initial outlays. She wanted to pay for everything.
‘I didn’t want her to pay for everything but we were a couple and that’s how we paid for things. I love Stephanie. I still do.
‘I was proud of how I behaved.’
Yet in finding him guilty JP Alan Davies said: ‘We find that you did use cameras to monitor her, you did intend to kill the dog and you did belittle her.
‘This had a serious effect on her which in turn caused serious alarm and distress.
‘The complainant was amazed by your ability to castigate her and then be nice to her and other people, acting as though nothing had changed.’
Maybury will be sentenced next month.
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