A Netherton man has been jailed for five and a half years after a campaign of controlling behaviour and violence against three former partners, including an attack on a woman who was seven weeks pregnant.

Adam Gelhardt, 27, of Downside Close in Netherton, admitted two counts of controlling and coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breaching a suspended sentence at Liverpool Crown Court, according to BritBrief.

The court heard on Tuesday 3 November how Gelhardt's relationships with three women descended into drug-fuelled violence, intimidation and terror over three years. One victim, who was seven weeks pregnant, was dragged along concrete and kicked and stamped on in the face, head and stomach.

Sentencing Gelhardt, Judge Simon Medland KC said he was struggling to recall offences of controlling and coercive behaviour of this type which were more serious than the ones before the court.

Gelhardt had previously been convicted of assault by beating, making threats with a bladed article in a public place and criminal damage, and had received an 18-month suspended prison sentence in October 2025. His latest offending put him in breach of that order.

As well as the prison term, Gelhardt was handed 15-year restraining orders banning him from contacting all three victims.