Trudi Burgess left tetraplegic after neck snapped — ‘violent bully’ jailed for 16 years

For trudi burgess the sentence is a formal reckoning but it does not undo the harm: a landscape gardener’s assault has left a 57-year-old schoolteacher and former singer tetraplegic, dependent on continuous specialist care. The court was told the attack capped an eight-year pattern of coercive, controlling behaviour that Burgess had documented on her phone; jurors reached a verdict after brief deliberation.

Immediate impact: how one life was rewritten

Here’s the part that matters: the physical and practical consequences are absolute. Burgess suffered a complete spinal cord injury, is tetraplegic, will never walk again, requires continuous care and specialist support, is in constant pain, cannot cough without help, has no use of her hands and has no control over bladder and bowel functions. She remains in hospital in a spinal injuries rehabilitation unit.

Trudi Burgess: the attack, the injuries and what she told the court

At sentencing Burgess, 57, of Chorley, Lancashire, attended in person to deliver a victim impact statement in which she described her life as destroyed. She said she had been emotionally shattered and suffers bouts of depression, daily anxiety, symptoms of post-traumatic stress, flashbacks and nightmares. Burgess described feeling trapped and powerless, with pleasures and plans erased and her future rewritten.

How the case was resolved in court and details from the trial

Robert Easom, 57, of Chipping near Preston and a landscape gardener, was convicted after a trial at Preston Crown Court. Jurors deliberated for 27 minutes before returning a guilty verdict; Easom had denied a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent but was found guilty. He had admitted causing the injury while denying he intended to cause serious harm. The verdict included a conviction for wounding with intent, and earlier admissions covered coercive and controlling behaviour between 2017 and 2025 and two counts of actual bodily harm.

The judge sentenced Easom to 16 years in prison, followed by a four-year extended licence period, handing down the term for wounding with intent, two charges of actual bodily harm and coercive and controlling behaviour. The judge observed that no sentence could begin to equal the harm caused, that a life sentence was not required, and that an extended determinate sentence was necessary to protect the public. A statement read outside court by Burgess’s brother, Charlie, said the sentence reflected the seriousness and lasting impact of the abuse.

Arrest footage showed Easom barefoot and in a dressing gown, silent as he stood in a hallway. Lancashire police described a relentless eight-year campaign of coercive and controlling behaviour that culminated when Burgess told him she was leaving the relationship.

Timeline of abuse and the attack (excerpts from court detail)

• 2018 (York): Easom switched into a rage, dragged Burgess around a bathroom and threatened her with a Rambo quote — "Don't push or I'll give you a war you don't need. " He later begged her to stay and expressed remorse.
• 2019: Easom grabbed a glass of wine from Burgess, dragged her upstairs by the head and banged her against each step.
• 2021 (York): Easom placed a sheet over Burgess’s head and strangled her, leaving her terrified for her life; the next day he dismissed it as "just trying to teach her a lesson. "
• 17 February 2025: Burgess told Easom she was leaving. He reacted with an uncontrollable rage, pinned her down and pushed her head into her body until her neck snapped — she heard it crack. The assault severed her spinal cord and left her paralysed.
• November (trial month): A jury at Preston Crown Court found Easom guilty after 27 minutes of deliberation.

The mini timeline above is drawn from details given in court and Burgess’s own records; the next signals to watch will be how rehabilitation and specialist care are arranged and how the extended licence period shapes Easom’s eventual release conditions.

Throughout the relationship Burgess documented repeated humiliation and physical assaults in the notes section of her phone: examples included being forced to clean up spilled food, being pushed against furniture, being head-butted, being shouted at, driven dangerously to be frightened, and being regularly berated with phrases such as "a fucking teacher bitch" and told she was "useless" and could not cope without him.

On the day Burgess tried to leave, a small domestic exchange — Easom asking whether she was making their customary cottage pie — preceded an uncontrollable rage when she said she was leaving. Burgess described Easom as having a "true Jekyll and Hyde personality. " What’s easy to miss is how the catalogue of episodes recorded by Burgess shows a pattern rather than isolated incidents.

The real question now is how long-term care and rehabilitation needs will be met for someone left with a complete spinal cord injury and full tetraplegia, and how the legal findings will shape support arrangements that Burgess will require for the rest of her life.

It’s easy to overlook, but the documented eight-year cycle of control and abuse that courts heard is central to understanding why Burgess felt trapped and why the assault occurred when she tried to leave.