Chorley man jailed for murdering partner

A man from Chorley has been jailed for life for murdering his partner.

At 2.15am on 26 May 2023, Jason Gowen, 27, called 999 to report that his partner Fiona Robinson had stopped breathing. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

A postmortem revealed she had injuries consistent with a violent and sustained assault which included nine rib fractures, bruising and abrasions all over her face and body plus injuries consistent with strangulation.

Gowen gave paramedics and police a variety of contradictory explanations for her injuries, including that she had returned home from a night out with them on 24 May.

CCTV captured Fiona Robinson before she returned home after her night out with no injuries. Footage found on Gowen's tablet from the morning of 25 May showed her now with injuries to her back, left side and left arm.

Medical evidence revealed that the injuries had been inflicted upon her in between the early hours of the 25 May until the early hours of the 26 May.

In October last year, Gowen eventually admitted murdering her.

Gowen had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting a former partner in 2020. He was on bail awaiting sentence in relation to those offences when he killed Fiona Robinson.

Today he has been sentenced for all offences to life imprisonment with a 20 year minimum term.

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 sentence 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 of Fiona Robinson and all those who have been affected by Gowen's violent actions."