A 27-year-old serial domestic abuser from Merseyside who subjected three former partners to a three-year campaign of terror, violence, and intimidation has received an immediate custodial sentence of five and a half years at Liverpool Crown Court.
Adam Gelhardt, residing at Downside Close in Netherton, appeared in court via video link from HMP Liverpool to be sentenced after admitting to repeated domestic violence, coercive control, and breaching an operative suspended sentence order.
Prosecuting barrister Zahra Baqri detailed how Gelhardt engaged in classic “love bombing” at the beginning of his relationships before his heavy abuse of alcohol and cocaine triggered paranoid, highly aggressive behaviour.
In a relationship commencing in April 2023, Gelhardt subjected the mother of his child to intense emotional torment. When the child was five months old, Gelhardt sent messages threatening to murder her, promising to “rip your head off” and stating he did not care about the child. In February 2025, while the woman was receiving inpatient hospital treatment, Gelhardt contacted her claiming he was armed with a knife and threatened to murder her father. The prolonged psychological abuse took an immense physical toll, with the victim requiring hospitalisation on 11 separate occasions for severe stress-related conditions.
Gelhardt began a second relationship in February 2026, moving into the woman’s home within three weeks before his paranoid control surfaced. During one violent episode, he wrestled her down and used a “fish hook” manoeuvre by forcing his fingers into her mouth to seize and destroy her mobile phone. The next day, he dumped a milkshake over her head and kicked her directly in the face when liquid splashed onto his clothes, leaving her with severe facial swelling.
During an enforced stay at a hotel paid for by the victim, Gelhardt dragged her by the hair whenever she attempted to leave, forced socks into her mouth, and smothered her face with a duvet to restrict her breathing. After discovering she was pregnant with his child, Gelhardt told her he wished she and her unborn baby would die a slow death.
The violence culminated during the early hours of 12 July 2026. While walking to an all-night garage, the woman attempted to run away. Gelhardt chased her, smashed her mobile phone onto the ground, and dragged her across the concrete pavement by her hair. As she screamed for help, Gelhardt covered her mouth, stood over her, and repeatedly kicked and stamped directly on her stomach while she was seven weeks pregnant, before kicking her in the head. The victim subsequently underwent a surgical termination at 18 weeks, explaining in a victim impact statement that she could not bring a child into an environment of such profound violence and instability.
The offences also placed Gelhardt in breach of an active suspended sentence order imposed in October 2025 for battery, criminal damage, and threatening a third former partner with a bladed article.
At Liverpool Crown Court, Gelhardt entered guilty pleas to:
Two counts of controlling and coercive behaviour
One count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH)
Breach of a suspended sentence order
Mitigating, defence counsel Chris MacMaster stated that Gelhardt had recognised his unacceptable behaviour, prioritised mental health treatment courses whilst on remand in prison, and acknowledged the destructive impact of his actions.
Sentencing Gelhardt, Judge Simon Medland KC condemned the protracted cruelty, stating:
“Your conduct to each of them very quickly descended into drug fuelled, alcohol fuelled violence, aggression and terrorising them. I am struggling to recall offences of controlling and coercive behaviour of this type which are more serious. You have brought sadness and grief to the women from whom I have heard.”
Judge Medland sentenced Gelhardt to a total term of five years and six months’ imprisonment, alongside comprehensive post-conviction protective orders.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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