This is the moment a violent and ‘controlling’ boyfriend is caught on camera raging at the lover he was jailed for assaulting, as it emerged he has been recalled to prison less than two months afer his early prison release.
Matthew Kowal, 34, was freed just three months into a three-year sentence in February under a government scheme to ease jail overcrowding
But the former parcel depot worker is already back behind bars after breaching a no-contact order just weeks after he was set free.
Kowal was caught on then lover Hayley Johns’ doorbell camera accusing her of trying to slam a door on him as he left her Derbyshire home for work in April 2023.
Ms Johns gave MailOnline doorbell video footage showing Kowal raging as he leaves the property as the terrified partner sobs off-camera.
She can be heard telling him through her tears: ‘You don’t do that to someone you love’ as she warns Kowal she will call the police.
Ms Johns, 38, told MailOnline how she had opened the door for him to leave for work but he caught his door on the frame, and then erupted as he accused her of trying to hurt him.
Following Kowal’s release in February, Ms Johns, told how she had installed multiple alarms, locks and a CCTV system at her home out of fear he may target her once more.
Hayley Johns (pictured), 38, installed multiple alarms, locks and a CCTV system at her home out of fear Matthew Kowal might target her once more
Kowal, 34, was found guilty in November of causing actual bodily harm and common assault, having previously admitted two counts of ABH
She said her fears were realised within a matter of weeks when Kowal found a TikTok account she had created following their split – and began liking her videos and pictures.
The former parcel depot worker was then recalled in mid-April after Ms Johns said he closed a Google listing for her business and she discovered some of his relatives had been repeatedly driving down her road.
Ms Johns, who runs her own nail salon, now fears her former lover could soon again be released early instead of being made to serve the remainder of a three-year prison term – after the Government announced fresh sentencing reforms last month which could see some serious offenders released after serving just a third of their sentence.
Ms Johns, from Little Eaton, near Derby, accused ministers of ‘playing with fire’ by releasing prisoners such as Kowal early, adding: ‘More people will get hurt.
‘How are they supposed to grown and learn if they are not being held accountable and made to serve their sentence?
‘This gives no hope to victims if their attackers are getting released almost immediately. Justice has not prevailed (in such cases).’
The mother-of-three said Kowal will ‘keep coming for me’ and would never change.
Kowal was found guilty in November of one count of causing actual bodily harm and one of common assault having previously admitted two counts of ABH.
Ms Johns fears her former lover could soon again be released early after the Government announced fresh sentencing reforms last month
Ms Johns with Kowal. The mother-of-three said Kowal will ‘keep coming for me’ and would never change
He was sentenced to three years in prison and handed a ten-year restraining order at Derby Crown Court on November 29.
Ms Johns was told by her victim liaison officer that Kowal, from Mackworth, Derbyshire, was to be released on February 13 – just three months after he was sentenced, although Kowal had also served a period of time on remand.
But Ms Johns said a few weeks later she received a notification on TikTok to say Kowal had liked one of her videos.
‘I only set up the account after we separated and it was a help to me with my mental health’, she added. Ms John said Derbyshire Police confirmed the contact amounted to a breach of her restraining order.
But the matter was passed to the neighbouring Staffordshire force because that was where Kowal was now living, and officers deemed it only a minor breach and merely visited Kowal to inform him his conduct was in breach of the restraining order.
He was only arrested and recalled to prison in mid-April after further breaches of the no-contact order came to light.
Ms Johns first told of her situation in February to warn other women about the danger Kowal may pose them, even though she felt she had been ‘completely let down’ by the justice system.
Ms Johns said she met Kowal five years ago during the pandemic, when she took a job as a courier at a firm where he was already working in the depot.
Ms Johns said ‘charming’ Kowal first turned on New Year’s Eve 2020 when she confronted him over pictures he had sent of himself to another woman and Kowal ‘went from zero to 100’ and started assaulting her
Kowal can be heard on the doorbell camera footage accusing a sobbing Ms Johns of slamming the door on him
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‘He was incredibly charming at first and we had a whirlwind romance’, she added. But on New Year’s Eve 2020 she confronted him over pictures he had sent of himself to another woman and Kowal ‘went from zero to 100’ and started assaulting her.
‘Nothing like this had happened before, I don’t know where it came from’, she said. ‘It was like an explosion.’
Kowal apologised and she continued with the relationship but over the next three years, she said there were a number of other episodes of violence – including Kowal smashing glass and flying into a rage in a bedroom.
Ms Johns said the final straw in her relationship came following an incident in March last year when he barricaded her in the bedroom and she tried to climb out to escape and ended up in hospital. She said: ‘That is when I knew he had total control over me’.
Ms Johns said Kowal was remanded ahead of sentencing last May.
It is understood that Kowal originally benefited from a double sentencing discount after was released early under a Home Detention Curfew scheme – having also qualified for the Labour government’s SDS40 (Standard Determinate Sentence 40) scheme which was introduced last year to tackle prison overcrowding.
Under the scheme, inmates can be eligible for early release after completing 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than the usual 50 per cent.
But although offenders convicted of domestic abuse are supposed to be exempt from early release, some abusers who have been charged with more general offences like common assault, such as Kowal, remain eligible.
In December, Liberal Democrat MP Josh Babarinde tabled a bill aimed at closing this loophole by creating a specific set of domestic abuse aggravated offences in the law.
The raging Kowal reduced his then girlfriend Ms Johns to tears as he headed out to work
The Ministry of Justice confirmed Kowal was subject to a ‘standard recall for breach of licence conditions’.
Staffordshire Police said officers arrested Kowal for recall to prison on April 10 following probation breaches.
A spokesman said of the force’s earlier interaction with him over Ms Johns’ TikTok account: ‘A report was received regarding a potential breach of a harassment order.
‘At the time, there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a prosecution. However, the case was not closed. A file was created to document the investigation, and it remains open for review should further evidence come to light.
‘Officers attended the victim’s address and completed a safeguarding risk assessment to ensure their safety and well-being.’
Last month Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the Commons she accepted most of the proposals from an independent sentencing review, but ruled out allowing the early release for the most serious offenders, saying they would continue to have to serve at least two-thirds of their sentence.
