Paris Shears: Hampshire woman whose boyfriend attacked her launches campaign to stop criminals getting sentence reductions for late guilty pleas

A woman was strangled by her Manchester United supporter ex-boyfriend after he flew into a rage when she bought her son a Chelsea football kit for his 10th birthday.

Paris Shears, 30, was thrown against a wall by Robert Lee Hastings, 30, in November 2023 after seeing the shirt from a competing team.

She said she was in and out of consciousness before Hastings let go, and Paris dropped to the floor before running downstairs to follow him to "make sure he didn't hurt the kids".

In April 2024, Paris ended the relationship and reported Hastings to the police for the strangulation and a previous incident where he had slapped her after calling him out on a comment he made while playing a video game. He was arrested in September 2024 and charged with intentional strangulation and battery.

On April 14, 2026, Hastings appeared at Southampton Crown Court, where he was convicted of intentional strangulation and assault by beating and was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months and a five-year restraining order.

Paris, a mum-of-three, from Southampton, said: "I made the mistake of showing him the Chelsea kit first. He threw me up against the wall, and started choking me and shaking my neck. I started to lose consciousness when he let go of me and ran downstairs, where my two kids were. I chased after him to make sure that he wasn't going to hurt my kids."

Paris met Hastings - who introduced himself as Bobby Brown - online in August 2022, and said the pair hit it off straight away. She said he would listen to her and be "affectionate", something which she hadn't experienced before in a relationship.

Paris quickly fell pregnant with their first child in January 2023.

Paris, who spoke to Talk to the Press, said: "It was great to start with, if I am being honest. He listened, he was attractive, he was very affectionate. I had a child with him, I had fallen pregnant with him quickly. After my first two children, I was told that I might never fall pregnant again."

Paris said the first time Hastings was violent with her was in December 2022.

She said the couple were lying in bed, and Hastings was playing video games. While playing the video game, Paris called him out on a comment he made. He then turned to Paris, grabbed her by her hair and slapped her across the face.

"I was working from home on the bed, while he was playing video games," Paris said. "He turned towards me, grabbed my hair and yanked it to the side before slapping me across the face.

"He ended up picking me up by my throat and throwing me back down on the bed. That was the first time he was violent with me."

In November 2023, Paris was celebrating her son's 10th birthday and bought him two football shirts.

A Chelsea shirt, as she was an avid supporter at the time, and a Manchester United shirt, as Hastings supported that team.

But, as Paris pulled out the Chelsea shirt, Hastings flew into a fit of rage and strangled her.

She said: "I was in and out of consciousness before he let me go, and I fell to the floor. He ran downstairs to where my two kids were. I ran downstairs, following behind to make sure that he wasn't going to hurt my kids."

On her son's first birthday in September 2024, Paris called the police, and Hastings was arrested and charged with intentional strangulation and battery.

During the first day of the trial on March 9, 2026, Hastings changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.

He was convicted of intentional strangulation and assault by beating and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months and a five-year restraining order, on April 14, 2026.

Two offences, including engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and one count of intentional strangulation, were left on file.

Paris said: "I didn't sleep the night before he was sentenced. I was a bag of nerves waiting for the news. When I got the call to say he received a suspended sentence, it took the wind out of me. I felt like I had come forward for nothing. It was disheartening. I don't feel like justice has been served."

Since Hastings received a suspended sentence, Paris said the impact on her life has been "substantial".

Paris said she has experienced extreme insomnia and lost over nine stone due to stress, and has barely left the house in fear of running into him.

"Knowing he is out there, living his life is upsetting to me," Paris said. "He has escaped prison, but I have been sentenced to being a prisoner in my own home.

"I am terrified 24 hours a day. I am constantly looking for danger and assessing situations. I always feel under threat and have lived in survival mode for a very long time"

Paris has now launched a petition, calling on the UK Government to remove sentence reductions for late guilty pleas.

She said: "I am not just doing this for me. I am using my voice that he tried to silence. I am doing this to stand up for myself, past, current and future victims."

Commenting on Paris' campaign, Liz Jarvis MP said: “I am inspired by Paris’s campaign and she has given a voice to victims of coercive control. The fact this petition has reached 100,000 signatures so quickly highlights that Paris’s message has really resonated with people. She should be incredibly proud.”

“Victims having to wait months, even years for trial, just for the defendant to plead guilty at a late stage, continues the cycle of abuse.

“A debate means that Paris’s story will be heard right here in Parliament, and I will be pushing the minister to ensure changes are finally made.”

The petition is at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/764553