WHEN single mum Leah Holmes finally met ‘caring’ work colleague Jonathan Hutton, after months of flirting on the phone, she thought she’d found the love of her life.
But she had unwittingly fallen for a serial rapist – and would soon become his next victim.
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Hutton, 40, had abused and raped women across the country, striking over the course of 22 years.
One of Hutton’s exes even desperately contacted Leah, 43, from Runcorn, Cheshire, with a stark warning – but sadly, she had already been brainwashed.
Leah, who shares a child with Hutton, was mentally tortured, manipulated and raped during their four year relationship.
Now, she’s speaking exclusively to the Sun, to raise awareness for abuse survivors.
Leah, a trainee lab technician, says: “I thought I found the love of my life. A wonderful partner and the father of my child.
“But instead, Jon was a monster in disguise. The amount of women he has hurt makes my heart ache.
“Now I’m grieving not only what I lost, but also the father my daughter has lost.
“I hope other women recognise these red flags that I didn’t see with Jon.”
Abuse lies
In December 2019, Leah worked with M&S furniture deliveries in Cheshire while Hutton, a logistics operator, was in the sister office over 200 miles away in Norfolk.
Leah says: “Our work calls turned flirtatious. I loved Jonathan’s attractive Norfolk accent. He was funny too.
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“We began messaging after work. Jon was in a depressive state due to a controlling ex-girlfriend. She wouldn’t let him see his kids.
“My heart broke for him. I told him I was a single mum to two children, aged seven and six.
“I confided in him about my anxiety and depression. Jon was caring and loving.
“He drove to Cheshire, to meet me two months later. He was the whole package.”
He started playing mind games with me. He spoke non-stop of his love for these past women and made me feel worthless
In March 2020, they became a couple and Hutton relocated to Cheshire, moving into Leah’s home with her kids.
Every day, he confided in Leah about his ‘awful’ ex-partner, crying that he couldn’t see his children.
Leah says: “He would sob in my arms. It was awful.
“We fell deeply in love and Jon fitted into my family. But months in, I got a Facebook message from his ex.
“She warned me that Jon had controlled and abused her daily.
“I was furious, she was just as crazy as Jon said. I thought she was making it all up.
“I replied telling her I didn’t believe her and to leave us alone.”
But after that, Hutton began drinking every night, and his behaviour slowly began to change.
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Leah says: “I started to realise he was obsessed with his exes. He even wrote about them in a diary.
“He started playing mind games with me. He spoke non-stop of his love for these past women and made me feel worthless.
“Every day, Jon belittled and bullied me; calling me a slag and making me cry.”
How to get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Vile rape
In September 2020, Leah and Hutton had a take-away and film night. One thing led to another and Leah instigated sex.
Leah says: “Everything was fine, until Jon forced his hand between my legs aggressively.
“I told him to stop and that I was in pain. Ignoring me, he continued hurting me.
“Pleading and crying, I tried to fight him off. But he only got angrier, and more vigorous, yet looked like he was enjoying it. It was hell.
“He finally took his hand away. But he flipped me over and raped me.
As I screamed for him to stop, he yelled at me to ‘Just get on with it
“As I screamed for him to stop, he yelled at me to ‘Just get on with it.’
“After, I fell into a heap on the sofa, sobbing. I said he’d raped me.
“Jon casually got out his phone and Googled the word ‘rape’. He read the definition aloud.
“He denied it and pretended like nothing happened. Inside, I wanted to die.
“After that, whenever I tried to speak to him about it he called me a slag and that I couldn’t be raped.
“Other times, he’d pack his bags and threaten to leave. In love, trapped and brainwashed, I ended up begging him not to go.”
Sadly, Leah lost herself completely, and her mental health deteriorated.
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But Hutton was a master manipulator and continued to mentally torture Leah.
In December 2020, after a year together, Leah fell pregnant with their baby.
Leah says: “Jon had told me to take my coil out, so I hoped he’d be happy.
“But he was furious and told me I had ‘options.’ It was like a knife to my heart.
“During the pregnancy, sometimes he’d feel for a kick, other times he’d ignore me.”
Sick confessions
In August 2021, Leah gave birth to their daughter. Only one month later, Jon left home to study business at a university in Wales, before transferring to university in Lincoln.
Leah suddenly found herself a single mum, raising a baby and two kids alone.
For the next two years, they had a long-distance relationship and visited each other on weekends.
Even though I raped her, thrown drinks on her, I can’t believe she’s with me still.’
Extract from Jon’s diary
Leah says: “Whilst away Jon would send me cruel texts. I was at my breaking point.
“The next year, in 2023, the police contacted me and told me his ex had pressed charged against him.
“I remembered her messages, warning me. I’d been so trapped and blind-sighted at the time.
“Hearing her claims of Jon abusing her, and everything he’d told me was lies, I was horrified.
“Then, another two women had come forward. It suddenly dawned on me I was a victim of abuse too.
“I grabbed Jon’s diary from a drawer in my bedroom and drove to the police station. There, I told them everything he’d done.”
The police combined Leah and the other women’s cases together, discovering that Hutton had been abusing four women in four different counties over 22 years.
They also read through Hutton’s diary which admitted all his abuse against his ex for years.
One chilling entry read: “Even though I raped her, thrown drinks on her, I can’t believe she’s with me still.”
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They used it as crucial evidence and, in April 2023, Hutton was arrested.
In December 2023, a judge described him as ‘sociopathic’, ‘misogynistic’, ‘calculating’ with ‘dangerous and manipulative behaviour.’
Hutton was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration against Leah at King’s Lynn Crown Court.
He was also convicted of a further 14 counts of rape and sexual assault against three other women.
He was sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years.
Leah says: “In court, I saw his ex who’d warned me, and I felt embarrassed. I even felt guilty seeing Jon up there.
Jon needed to go to prison so no more women could get hurt
“Listening to the other ladies’ stories, I was devastated. The way he’d degraded and abused us all.
“During the trial, Jon rolled his eyes at us all. I couldn’t stop crying.
“Unlike the others, I’d just been in a fresh relationship with Jon and I still loved him deeply.
“It was hard, but I knew I’d done the right thing. Jon needed to go to prison so no more women could get hurt.
“After the case was over, the other women and I all hugged and went for a cup of tea.
“After all we’d been through, it was nice we had each other.
“Now, I’m concentrating on being a good mum. But my daughter reminds me of Jon every day.
“The other women and I still stay in touch, we have been through so much.
“To any women out there like me, you can get the justice you deserve too, and get monsters like Jon put away.”
