Violent Corby man John Friery banned by court from contacting a SECOND woman

A Corby man who was imprisoned for beating his former partner has been made the subject of a restraining order for a second victim.

In January, John Friery of Kiel Walk, Corby, was jailed for a series of horrifying assaults on a woman in the town. The court heard how he had badly beaten her five times over the course of a year between October 2019 and September 2020, leaving her 'petrified by her own shadow.'

The 36-year-old was jailed for 18 months by Northampton Crown Court but was released from prison just a few weeks later. At the sentencing he was also banned from contacting his first victim for five years.

But Friery again appeared in court last week to face a charge of actual bodily harm on a second female partner that was alleged to have happened on September 19, 2020, the same night as the final attack on his previous victim.

In the second attack, he had been accused of going to a second Corby woman’s house directly after the first assault and undertaking a two-hour string of ruthless assaults which included repeatedly headbutting her while she was holding a newborn infant.

Friery had denied that charge and was due to stand trial next month.

But it was argued in court that because that two attacks on separate women took place on the same evening, sentencing for both should have been taken into account at the court hearing back in January.

It was said that Friery would not have received any harsher punishment for the second assault if both attacks had been considered for sentencing at the same time.

So the second charge was withdrawn by the prosecution at last Wednesday's (June 9) hearing in Northampton. Acknowledging the violent nature of the second assault, magistrates imposed a second five-year restraining order banning Friery from entering the street where the second victim lives or from contacting her directly or indirectly.

Friery agreed to the terms of the restraining order which is designed to protect the victim from future harm. He is banned from contacting her in any way for five years or from entering her street. If he breaches the order, which lasts until June 8, 2026, he could be imprisoned for five years.

He is currently in prison serving his original 18-month stretch after being recalled in May for breaching the terms of his first release from prison.

Last month he was served with a domestic violence protection order against a third woman. The 28-day order, granted by magistrates on May 11, banned him from threatening violence, intimidating or harassing the woman. He was also ordered not to contact the woman in any way or go within 100m of her home.

- If you believe your partner may pose a risk to you, you can ask Northamptonshire Police to make a disclosure under Clare's Law. If they consider it necessary, they may be able to tell you of any relevant previous history of abusive behaviour to help protect you. You can find out more here.