R v Dylan Kyle Cathrae

Facts

The appellant, Dylan Kyle Cathrae, now 21, committed a series of offences against his former partner ("C1") between the ages of 17 and 20. The two began a relationship in 2021 when both were 15 and were living together by the middle of 2022 in the appellant's flat in Camelford, C1 then being 16 and the appellant 17. Over the period they lived together the appellant subjected C1 to persistent controlling and coercive behaviour: monitoring her phone and social media accounts, dictating her clothing and makeup, limiting contact with her family, and regular violence including kicking, punching, hair-pulling and spitting. He raped her while deliberately calling her by her cousin's name, jabbed her in the throat so that she could not breathe, and repeatedly made her submit to digital penetration so that he could check her for signs of sexual activity with others. After C1 ended the relationship on 14 February 2023 he telephoned her repeatedly in breach of bail conditions and sent intimidating messages, and he had earlier messaged her intimating that he could pay someone to assault her 14-year-old brother ("C2"). In the Crown Court at Truro he pleaded guilty on 6 October 2025 to putting a person in fear of violence by harassment and was convicted on 8 October 2025 of six further counts. HHJ Simon Carr sentenced him to 10 years' detention in a young offender institution and imposed indefinite restraining orders. He appealed against sentence with the leave of the single judge.