Adam Gelhardt, 27, has been jailed for five-and-a-half years at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting two counts of controlling and coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breaching a suspended sentence. The court heard on Tuesday, November 3 how his relationships with three women descended into drug-fuelled violence, intimidation and terror.
Speaking to the ECHO following his sentencing, two of the women have told of the physical and psychological abuse they say they endured behind closed doors. Both described how Gelhardt initially showered them with affection, gifts and promises before becoming increasingly controlling, jealous and aggressive.
Dubai 'gangster' lifestyle
One woman said he had portrayed himself as living a glamorous, "gangster" lifestyle in Dubai, taking her on a trip within weeks of meeting before making her foot the £1,200 bill for hotels, meals and clothes. The woman, who does not wish to be named, said: "He had this high-life, fake gangster lifestyle in Dubai that he would portray to suck other girls in."
"He took me to Dubai within a couple of weeks of knowing me and made me pay for hotels and restaurants and made me buy him clothes there. But then he used it against me, saying he had taken me on the holiday of a lifetime." Another victim said Gelhardt repeatedly emptied her bank account, spending money on gambling and drugs.
Gambled away baby's Christmas money
On one occasion, she said he took money she had been saving for their six-month-old baby's Christmas presents and gambled it away. She said: "He went on my bank account one night, where I was keeping my little boy's Christmas money. He emptied the bank account and gambled all the money away, knowing it was his child's Christmas money."
"He just expected me to find the money myself, knowing I couldn't go to work because I had a six-month-old baby, and because I was physically ill and living off £300 a month." Both women said they were left suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following their experiences. One has since been left reliant on a wheelchair because, she says, her physical health deteriorated so significantly during the relationship that her body is now too weak to walk long distances.
Love bombing and gaslighting
The women, who have chosen to remain anonymous, have also formed an unlikely bond through their shared experiences, helping each other understand that the abuse they endured was not their fault. They described the friendship as "the only silver lining" to emerge from a horrific ordeal.
Speaking on the day Gelhardt was sentenced, one said: "It was emotional, to say the least. We expected him to get a lot less. We both broke down in tears. It was a feeling of absolute relief, like a weight was lifted off our shoulders. Two years of feeling like a shaken-up Lucozade bottle and then someone let the lid off. It feels surreal that we've finally done this."
Both women described how Gelhardt initially presented himself as charming, charismatic and affectionate, with one saying he had moved into her home within just three weeks of them meeting. She said she had lost her mum as a child and believed Gelhardt deliberately played on that vulnerability to win her trust.
She said: "He completely and utterly love bombed us. He was very charismatic and charming and he knew how to say the right words. I lost my mum when I was a child and I think he used that vulnerability to draw me in. He'd say things like, 'I wish I could have met your mum' or 'do you think your mum would like me?' He'd also offer to do things like lay flowers for my mum in the park. Things like that would immediately pull on my heartstrings because I was very close with my mum."
But she said his behaviour changed dramatically once she became emotionally invested in the relationship. "He would always find a way to accuse me of something," she said. "He would gaslight me to the point I'd start questioning my own mind. After he became violent, I was constantly chasing the person I first met. I was so sucked in by him at the start that I thought everything he was doing was my fault."
"I was constantly telling myself it was me who had made him so miserable. I was constantly in fight or flight. I wasn't living any more, I was in survival mode constantly. You can't sleep any more, because what if he kicks you in the middle of the night? I'd make him a meal and he'd say, 'watch this', chew it with his mouth wide open and spit it at me. The mental torture he would put me through was worse than the violence. He made my life a living hell."
Attack while pregnant
The woman said the final straw came during the horrific attack on July 12, after she had fallen pregnant with his baby. Gelhardt dragged her along a concrete pavement before kicking and stamping on her stomach and attacking her head and face. He then flagged down cars in order to seek help for himself.
As previously heard at Liverpool Crown Court, she was seven weeks pregnant at the time. She managed to escape to a nearby garage for help before being taken to a police station. The court heard she later underwent a surgical abortion at 18 weeks, having feared for her own safety and that of her unborn child if she continued the pregnancy.
Recalling the attack, she told the ECHO: "I was nearly dead. The policeman said if he'd stamped on my neck with the same force he used on my head and stomach, I'd be dead. I'd had a beating a number of times, but nothing like that. I was convinced I was going to die that night. I'm not embarrassed any more. I just want everyone to know what he is."
Accusations in hospital
The second woman was in a relationship with Gelhardt for around two years and described a similarly disturbing pattern of affection followed by control and intimidation. She said he initially showered her with flowers and presents, telling her she was unlike anyone he had ever met.
"He played on the fact that he had a bad childhood, that he wasn't loved," she said. "For the first few months, he seemed supportive and like he really loved me. Then he completely changed." She described being accused of infidelity even when she was seriously ill in hospital and unable to speak.
She said: "I would be in a hospital bed, unable to speak, and he would still be accusing me of cheating on him. It could have been with anyone. Hospital porters, cleaners, doctors. I was sleeping with them in Adam's eyes." She also described how he once made her leave work so he could supervise her and ensure she was not being unfaithful.
This continued, and she eventually lost her job and subsequently discovered she was pregnant. Her financial circumstances continued to deteriorate further. The woman claimed Gelhardt repeatedly spent her money on gambling and drugs.
"When I fell pregnant, he sold me this big dream that he was going to change, we were going to be a family. That same night, he wanted to go for a meal. I told him I couldn't afford to pay for the whole meal, and it was WWIII. There was an occasion when the baby was about five months old. Adam had stayed up all night drinking and taking drugs. He rang me in the morning and asked if he could look after the baby. When I said no, that's when he started with the threats."
The court heard how, in one text, Gelhardt called her a "filthy, dirty c***" before adding "I'm gonna kill you, I promise you now". He also told her in another text: "I swear to f***ing God yeno, if I find out you're up to something, I'll rip your head off. I couldn't give two f***s about your kid." Gelhardt was also said to have called her while she was "very unwell" in hospital in February 2025 and told her that he was "either going to kill her father or himself", having claimed to be armed with a knife at the time.
This complainant was said to have been left hospitalised a total of 11 times during their relationship because of a stress related illness, which had never caused her to require inpatient care previously.
Warning signs and sentencing
Both women now want to use their experiences to warn others about the signs of coercive and controlling behaviour. They said the early warning signs were not always obvious, particularly when they were accompanied by affection, gifts and promises.
One said the constant questioning and accusations began to make her feel guilty for simply having a life outside the relationship. She said: "It's the love bombing. When they start to ask questions like, 'why did you take so long to answer the phone? Do you not want to talk to me?' When they get into a mood because you tell them you've got plans with your friends, so you cancel your plans and have a movie night. And before you know it, every night is a movie night because you're not allowed to leave the house."
The second woman urged anyone experiencing similar behaviour to trust their instincts. She said: "It's the empty accusations when you know you haven't done anything. Trust your gut. If they're accusing you of something you know you haven't done, gaslighting you into believing you have, you need to get out because that is projection. The first time he throws something at your head, leave. The first time he punches a wall, leave. Because one day it will be you."
As previously reported, Liverpool Crown Court heard how Gelhardt's relationships with three women descended into what Judge Simon Medland KC described as "drug-fuelled and alcohol-fuelled violence, aggression and terrorising". The court heard how one former partner was subjected to repeated death threats, including threats involving her father, while another was dragged by her hair, assaulted and attacked while pregnant.
Gelhardt had also previously been convicted of assault by beating, making threats with a bladed article in a public place and criminal damage. He received an 18-month suspended prison sentence in October 2025 but went on to commit further offences, breaching the order.
Defending, Chris MacMaster told the court that Gelhardt had complicated mental health issues and had begun to recognise the problems underpinning his behaviour. He said his client had engaged with courses in prison and had been seeing a psychiatrist regularly.
Sentencing him to five-and-a-half years in prison, Judge Medland said: "I am struggling to recall offences of controlling and coercive behaviour of this type which are more serious than the ones which have unfolded before me today." Gelhardt was also handed restraining orders preventing him from contacting his victims for 15 years.
For the two women who have now spoken out, the sentence marked the end of a long and painful fight to have their experiences heard. One of the victims added: "I'd urge anyone in this situation to reach out to someone else going through something similar. If I hadn't have spoken to the other victim, I'd have felt completely alone. She made me feel normal, like I hadn't done anything wrong. She opened my eyes and made me see it wasn't me; it was his fault. And I'll be forever grateful for that."
