A besotted prison officer who became ‘obsessed’ with a rapist inmate nicknamed ‘The Devil’ lost their unborn baby after their secret abusive romance turned violent.
‘Manipulative’ ex-con Kade Sibthorpe, 29, was arrested after punching his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach and threatening her at knifepoint at their Manchester home last December.
Sibthorpe, of Swinton, Greater Manchester, forced his lover to drive the pair up into moorland in just her dressing gown and slippers and became violent while they waited outside a Tesco Express in Oldham.
Sibthorpe was arrested days after his girlfriend terminated her pregnancy, but his victim continued to contact him, sending naked pictures of herself and using a false name to visit him while in custody.
He was sentenced to 21 months behind bars after being convicted of coercive control at a Manchester court, after jurors heard how he called his lover a ‘sl**’ or ‘dog’, and went through her personal possessions. Charges against him of procuring a miscarriage and kidnap were dropped.
In her victim statement, his girlfriend admitted considering taking her own life at one point during the couple’s 18-month fling, and said the ordeal left her feeling ‘very damaged’.
She added: ‘I went into shock and lost myself. He would think in a vindictive and manipulative manner and abused my trust and affection in him.’
‘Manipulative’ Kade Sibthorpe, 29, of Swinton, Greater Manchester punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach and threatened her at knife point last December
Convicted rapist Sibthorpe (pictured centre making an offensive hand gesture) met his lover while he was serving a six year sentence at Category B HMP Bure in Norfolk. She worked as a prison officer on the same wing as him
Minshull Street Crown Court heard the victim met Sibthorpe two years ago while he was serving six years at HMP Bure in Norfolk having been convicted in 2017 of raping a young mother in the dead of night at her own home.
Prosecutor Henry Blackshaw explained how she had worked on the same wing as Sibthorpe and fell for the rapist despite knowing the reason he was in prison.
The pair admitted they started an ‘intimate’ and ‘inappropriate’ relationship at the Category B prison.
The woman even went as far as moving to Manchester to be with Sibthorpe once he finished his six-year sentence, meeting him once he stepped off the train on the day of his release.
Mr Blackshaw said: ‘She states that her termination of employment with the prison service in Norfolk and her move to Manchester was to stay with a friend of hers and for a change of career.
‘But whilst that account was not true, it is clear is that having entered a relationship with the defendant it was controlling and abusive.
‘They very quickly formed an intense relationship where they were effectively living together.
‘She was, and to a degree seemingly still is, obsessed with the defendant but gave an account to police of how thoroughly unpleasantly the defendant would behave towards her.’
On December 15, 2020, the woman discovered she was pregnant with Sibthorpe’s child but did not plan on keeping the baby.
She told officers when Sibthorpe returned at around 10pm that night he flew into a furious rage and ‘punched her’ in the stomach, before threatening her with a large kitchen knife.
After forcing her on a late-night drive through moorland, the pair were seen at around 11am the following morning at a Tesco Express store in Oldham, where they had a violent confrontation that was witnessed by the store’s employees.
Sibthorpe was sentenced to 21 months in prison at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester after he was found guilty of coercive control
The visibly upset woman was described as ‘looking scared’ and ‘physically shaking’, at which point a Tesco employee confronted Sibthorpe and accused him of hitting her.
He denied the accusation, telling the employee: ‘No no, we are ok. She has been like this all morning and just needs to go back to the flat and sort herself out.’
When he was again accused of hitting the woman in the car Sibthorpe replied: ‘No, you are very much mistaken, I was leaning over to open the door for her’.
His ‘freezing’ girlfriend, whose slippers had soaked through, was taken into the store where she contacted the police while Sibthorpe drove away.
Prosecutor Blackshaw added: ‘When further questioned as to whether he had hit her she confirmed that he had but still seemed very quiet and frightened.
‘She told police she had been assaulted by the defendant the previous evening by being punched in the abdomen and also being threatened with a knife.
‘It is clear that the victim has suffered very significantly as a result of the abuse and manipulation.
‘The cumulative effect of his physical and emotional behaviour towards her was to damage her confidence and to mean that she had become controlled by him.’
Sibthorpe’s coercive behaviour started with the checking of his lover’s text messages, resenting her meeting up with friends and threatening to tell her family about her secret relationship with a rapist.
Sibthorpe called himself ‘The Devil’ in posts on his Facebook page and also uploaded voodoo and occult themed memes
The abuse worsened, with the woman being referred to as a ‘sl**’ and ‘dog’, and she was once told by Sibthorpe that he wanted to ‘insert a gun inside her’ while they had sex.
On other occasions her clothes were thrown out of the window, and she was even dragged back into their house at one point after she had packed her bags and prepared to leave.
Blackshaw continued: ‘She describes how he had tipped her out of the bed on occasion and called her an ‘immature little b****’.
‘She describes how he would damage her property and in anger, he punched a hole in her car windscreen from the inside.
‘On another occasion she had got dressed up to go for a job interview and in anger he threw a cup of coffee over her, so that her clothing was ruined, and she was unable to attend the interview.
‘At the same time he was complaining to her that she was failing to support him financially as she should be.’
The woman underwent a termination on December 22. Sibthorpe was arrested the day after the attack but gave no comment in police interview.
The abuse reached such a stage that the woman was referred to as a ‘sl**’ and ‘dog’, and she was once told by Sibthorpe (above) that he wanted to ‘insert a gun inside her’ while they had sex
The court heard whilst he was being held on remand the victim sent him nude selfies and even paid him a visit using a false name. She later asked that no restraining order be imposed against him as they might get in contact again in the future.
Defence counsel Michael Lavery said in mitigation: ‘His conduct does him no credit at all but the court has to approach her account with some scepticism. She has claimed she was psychologically harmed but then has left the door open for further contact.
‘The defendant was very keen to have his side of the relationship investigated before there were any guilty pleas tendered.’
Sentencing Sibthorpe, Judge Tina Landale told him: ‘You are a manipulative person who took advantage of the victim and her affection for you.
‘You were controlling, verbally and physically abusive, you invaded her privacy and assaulted her.
‘It is clear that the offence has caused her distress and her mental health has deteriorated but it is difficult to go further than that in assessing the impact because of her ongoing attitude towards you.’
Sibthorpe called himself ‘The Devil’ in posts on his Facebook page and also uploaded voodoo and occult themed memes including one saying: ‘Some days even the Devil sits back and admires by work.’
Pictures of him on the social media site show him sporting menacing grins with one image showing him posing in front of a horror cartoon of a graveyard featuring skeletons rising from the dead.