Jason Gowen sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Barrow mum

Jason Gowen sought to humiliate 37-year-old Barrow mum-of-two Fiona Robinson and enjoy her suffering by recording his victim after he attacked her, said His Honour Judge Robert Altham when sentencing him to 20 years in prison.

His Honour Judge Altham said: “This was a sustained, brutal and ultimately deadly attack.

“Ms Robinson would go to work with injuries and report to colleagues that you were violent towards her.

“The evidence is that she had been the subject of a sustained and violent attack whereby she was punched a number of times.

“It was a terrible act and it is a terrible loss.

“The only sentence I can impose is imprisonment for life.”

Jason Gowen (Image: Lancashire Police)

Tom Snape, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: “Jason Gowen clearly poses a significant risk to women. He brutally murdered a woman he was in a relationship with whilst awaiting sentences for offences against a previous partner.

“Initially he denied he was responsible for murder and concocted various lies to evade prosecution, but when faced with the overwhelming evidence against him, including medical evidence, CCTV and footage he recorded himself, he eventually pleaded guilty.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Fiona Robinson and all those who have been affected by Gowen’s violent actions.”

Prosecutor Stephen Wood KC told Preston Crown Court Gowen murdered Ms Robinson having inflicted an attack that was ‘sustained, prolonged and brutal’ on May 25 in Chorley last year.

Mr Wood KC said: “It was a relationship characterised by the defendant’s physically abusive, manipulative, possessive and controlling behaviours borne out of paranoia and jealousy.”

The court heard the defendant fractured 16 of Ms Robinson’s ribs as well as inflicting 31 separate sites of injury to her head and neck, including fractures to nasal cartilages.

Fiona Robinson (Image: Family handout)

Pathologist Dr Alison Armour believed Ms Robinson had been the victim of a ‘sustained and very violent assault where she was punched many, many times’.

His Honour Judge Altham said the defendant ‘was seeking to put together the lies to get himself out of trouble’ when he delayed calling the emergency services in the early hours of May 26 after he had already murdered Ms Robinson.

Gowen then pretended to give CPR when the emergency services arrived, the court heard, which His Honour Judge Altham described as a ‘desperate attempt to avoid responsibility for what he had done’.

A precise time of death was a matter of speculation, His Honour Judge Altham said.

The Crown said the defendant had drunk at least 11 pints of beer by 10pm on May 24 when he and Ms Robinson had been out drinking sometimes together and sometimes apart.

Mr Wood KC said the defendant had been ‘bickering via text’ with Ms Robinson in regards to whether she loved him, whether he had been flirting with a woman and whether she wanted to be with other men.

The court heard Ms Robinson was pictured on CCTV uninjured when entering a McDonald’s store at 11.33 pm before walking back to the house they shared together at 12.45 am on May 25.

That next morning, His Honour Judge Altham concluded the defendant had at least already started his attack on Ms Robinson when he left the premises at 10.30 am.  

In a video recorded from an iPad device just before 10am, the defendant is seen to mock Ms Robinson when she is naked and injured while on her knees and appearing to vomit into the toilet, the court heard.

Gowen then made a series of internet searches using Ms Robinson’s phone relating to what to do if someone has had their drink spiked, the court heard.

There were then searches for ‘how long can you be drunk for’ and ‘my partner is drunk and not responding but awake’.

When interviewed by police Mr Wood KC said Gowen replied that they were in love and planning a wedding and that he would never have caused her any harm.

He denied being responsible for any injuries, did not know how they had been caused and denied ever assaulting Ms Robinson in the past.  

The court heard Gowen was on court bail having previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault against a former partner in 2020.

He was on bail awaiting sentence in relation to those offences when he killed Ms Robinson.  

Det Superintendent Mark Haworth-Oates, of the Lancashire Police, said: “Throughout her relationship with Gowen, Fiona was subjected to physical and psychological abuse, which culminated in the attack which killed her.

“It is clear from speaking to her family that Fiona was a very much-loved daughter, sister, mum and friend and that her death has left a hole in many, many lives. It is utterly heartbreaking, especially as her two children will now have to grow up without her.

“Gowen has shown himself to be a violent and manipulative offender, who preyed on women that he formed relationships with. While we will never know what caused the violence on that night, it is clear that Gowen put Fiona through an unimaginable ordeal, over a period of 24 hours, inflicting a large number of injuries upon her. He then failed to get Fiona the medical help that she so obviously needed, no doubt all for reasons of self-interest and control, and allowed her to die.

“I hope that the family can start to rebuild their lives now, in the knowledge that Gowen has admitted his guilt and is in prison.

“There is no excuse for abuse. If you hear Fiona’s story and see similarities in your own life or that of a family member or friend then I urge you to seek help and make a report to the Police or other agencies who can provide advice and support.”