A thug who subjected his ex-partner to years of abuse, including rape, has been refused leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence. Ben Fitton, 34, was jailed for 18 years in February 2025 after a five-week trial at Manchester Crown Court in September 2024. He was found guilty of two counts of rape, non-fatal strangulation, coercive and controlling behaviour, and causing grievous bodily harm.
Details of the Abuse
The court heard that Fitton was violent towards Hannah Mellor, isolated her from friends and family, humiliated her, and made threats over several years. During one row, he shoved her to the ground, leaving a wound so deep her kneecap was visible, requiring hospitalisation. He raped her on two occasions. In the first, he boiled a kettle of water and threatened to pour it over her unless she performed oral sex. She cried during the attack, causing Fitton to stop and ‘blame her’. In the second rape, he strangled her until she began to pass out, then spun her around and raped her after she bit his arm.
Desperate for help, Mellor contacted Greater Manchester Police via its online chat service, leading to an investigation. Fitton, from Glossop, Derbyshire, sought to appeal his conviction and sentence. He was given a 21-year sentence: 18 years in prison with a three-year extended licence period. He must serve two-thirds of the term before the Parole Board can consider his release.
Appeal Dismissed
The case was heard by top judges at the Court of Appeal in London on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Submissions were made by Fitton’s legal team, but the court confirmed to the Manchester Evening News that the case was dismissed by three judges: Lady Justice Yip, Mr Justice Linden, and Judge Simon Hirst, the Recorder of Lincoln.
After the sentencing hearing, Mellor told how Fitton sent her thousands of vile messages, including one that read: “Ugly fat mess, you deserved to be raped for the rest of your insignificant life.” She said he would throw cups of tea at her and threatened to go to her son’s school with a knife. She said: “He used to beg and beg and beg for me to admit things I hadn’t done. Every time I thought I appeased him, he would turn to something else. He didn't care if I smelt, he didn't care how I looked, so long as he was certain I wasn't cheating. He owned me, I was a possession, that's what I felt like. I was not a person, I was his belonging, he wasn’t ever going to just let that go.”
She added: “It got to a point that I didn’t care anymore. I said it wasn't a big issue if he killed me, because being killed was probably better than living the life I was.”
Lack of Remorse
Fitton’s sentencing hearing heard he told a probation officer that if his victim ‘died tomorrow’, he would ‘celebrate’. He also put his thumbs up at a judge as the judge noted Fitton’s ‘attitude towards females was a concern for the officer’ and highlighted a ‘complete and utter lack of remorse’. Judge Peter Horgan said Fitton had been ‘assessed as highly likely to commit further domestic violence and show a high risk of causing harm to future partners’.
In a statement, Mellor said she had lost more than two stone in weight, was left with cripplingly low self-esteem, and had lost contact with friends and family. He would demand money for cocaine, not allow her to shower, and order her to stop using social media. He also did a ‘countdown’, demanding something from her by a certain time and making threats if she didn’t comply. Mellor said: “It is my hope that Ben will not be able to harm anybody else in the future or treat any other person like he has me.”
Detective Constable Russ Clarke, of Rochdale CID, said: “Our investigation uncovered thousands of messages and audio recordings which provided a vivid window into what was going on over a two-year period. The levels of abuse, and controlling and coercive behaviour in this case are the worst I have ever seen in my time at GMP.”
