Man guilty of posting photo of woman on FabSwingers website

Sashon Lewis had been charged with kidnapping the woman by picking her up in his car in Gloucester and driving her to Coaley Peak, where he was alleged to have throttled her for about 10 seconds.

During the four-day trial, the woman told the jury at Gloucester Crown Court sitting at Cirencester Courthouse that she feared she was going to die and that he only let go of her neck when she kicked out at him.

Lewis, of Chestnut Close, Hardwicke, denied charges of kidnap, intentional strangulation and disclosing a private sexual photo.

He was found not guilty of the first two charges but guilty of the last charge and released on bail pending sentencing.

Lewis was warned that he could be jailed for that charge, which was publishing an intimate photo of the woman on his profile on the FabSwingers website without consent.

The woman told the jury that she was 'mortified' when she discovered the picture.

"The photo was taken on my phone in 2020 and we both consented to it," she said

"I sent it to him but it was private and he had no permission to share it with anyone else.

"I felt sick when I saw it. It was degrading."

Lewis admitted posting the image, taken when he and the woman were involved in sexual activity, but said he had superimposed an emoji over her face so she could not be identified.

He denied that he had done it as a form of 'revenge porn'.

The other two charges, of which he was acquitted, were alleged to have taken place on May 6 last year.

He was charged with kidnapping the woman and driving her to the Coaley Peak viewpoint between Stroud and Dursley, where he was alleged to have grabbed her neck and strangled her for 7-12 seconds.

Afterwards, she said, he drove to another location where he stopped the car and apologised.

The next day she said he messaged to apologise again and in the following week he made more than 500 calls or messages to her and left cards and flowers on her car.

The woman went to the police later that month and in July 2022 Lewis was served with a five year restraining order barring him from contacting her.

Lewis maintained that he had not throttled the woman and insisted she had willingly travelled with him to the beauty spot.

The court heard that Lewis has past criminal convictions for violence to women.

Under cross-examination by prosecutor Alistair Haggerty, Lewis admitted that his previous convictions included one dating back to 2009 when he entered a former partner's home, demanded the keys to her house and when she refused grabbed hold of her around the neck, leaving red marks.

He also broke her mobile phone into two pieces and locked the door behind him when he left.

Lewis also admitted that in 2015 he spat in an ex-partner's face during an argument and then grabbed her arm and squeezed it tightly, causing reddening and bruising of the skin.

In 2021, he conceded, he had breached a restraining order by contacting a former partner at work and being abusive to her.

He also admitted to the jury that last year he breached the restraining order in respect of the woman involved in the current case by sending her threatening and abusive messages.

The judge, Recorder Don Tait, said Lewis had 'a rather strange relationship with female partners.'

"If something can be done to address some of his thought processes it would be for the benefit of society at large, I would have thought," he said.

"The way you behave towards women is reflected in your previous convictions and was demonstrated during this trial," he added.

"You need to be careful. You need to mend your ways.

"You can't go through life behaving like this constantly or it is going to be a complete misery for everyone involved."

As Lewis left the dock and was joined by a woman who had been sitting in the public gallery the judge asked "Is this your current partner?"

When Lewis confirmed that she was, the judge added "Make sure you treat her better than you have treated some of the others."