Bedford man jailed for six years for harassing and assaulting two ex-partners

A 36-year-old man described by police as 'extremely violent and controlling' has been jailed for assaulting and harassing two of his former partners.

Orville Anderson Burgess, of De Parys Avenue, is starting a six year jail sentence for assaulting and harassing his exes.

In the early hours of Sunday, 12 September, 2021, police received a frantic telephone call from the two women saying that they had both been assaulted by Burgess.

Both had previously been in a relationship with him.

The court heard how the day before the incident, Burgess was continuously messaging and calling one of the victims.

He threatened that if she didn’t come to his house then he would come to her address where she lived with her children.

In a bid to stop Burgess turning up at her house she agreed to meet him at his flat but Burgess grabbed her by the throat and assaulted her.

The victim told police she genuinely believed that Burgess was going to kill her. Moments later the second victim was banging on his door.

Burgess grabbed her and shoved her to the ground but both women managed to flee to safety.

In court, Burgess was classed as a “danger to all future partners” and as well as six years in jail was given a restraining order not to contact either of the victims.

Investigating Officer, Detective Constable Joanna Tyrrell, said: “Burgess is an extremely violent and controlling man who has harassed and violently assaulted both victims making them fear for their lives.

Behaviour like this will not be tolerated in our communities and we will do everything we can to ensure dangerous perpetrators of domestic abuse like Burgess are brought to justice for their vile and life destroying behaviour.

These women have lived in fear for so long because of his behaviour and actions and I welcome the sentence brought down by the judge. I want to commend both victims for their courage throughout the court proceedings.”

Burgess was found guilty of two counts of ABH, criminal damage and harassment and sentenced to six years at Luton Crown Court on Friday (29 April), two of which will be served on licence.