Five women make assault claims against council leader Jonathan Nunn

A council leader is facing allegations that he kicked, punched, spat at and throttled women.

Jonathan Nunn, of West Northamptonshire Council, is also accused of threatening or controlling behaviour.

The BBC has heard exclusive accounts from five women. Four had relationships with Mr Nunn between 1990 and 2013.

The 59-year-old told the BBC he "strenuously denies" the allegations and said "domestic abuse is never acceptable".

A long-serving Tory councillor, Mr Nunn was elected to lead the county's newly formed unitary authority in 2021.

As council leader, he has acted as a spokesperson for various women's initiatives and launched a campaign tackling violence against women.

Until recently, the only evidence of an allegedly violent nature was Mr Nunn's conviction in 2004 for assaulting his then wife, Janice Nunn, for which he received a community order.

After the attack, police said Mrs Nunn, 50, had bruising to her shoulder, arms, chest, back, buttocks and legs.

A medical practitioner also found she had been dragged by her hair.

Mrs Nunn told the BBC she suffered repeatedly during their two-year marriage and described her husband as "the angriest person" she had ever met.

She said on one occasion he "changed in a heartbeat from being chatty to throwing me over".

"I went to A&E and was diagnosed with a fractured rib," she said.

Mrs Nunn said on the night of the assault, in November 2003, Mr Nunn "punched and slapped" her for speaking to other men so she ran from their house in Olympia Close, Northampton.

"Halfway across the street, in full view of the neighbours, he launched himself, dragged me to the floor and began kicking me everywhere," she said.

Mrs Nunn said she managed to take refuge in the house of a neighbour, Paula Johnson, 60, who has also spoken to the BBC.

"Jon barged in and was absolutely furious, shouting, 'you think you can protect my wife?'," Ms Johnson said.

"I remember standing in front of the sofa where Jan was and he was still trying to go for her and accusing her of all sorts.

"Then he put his hands around my throat, and was squeezing really tightly."

Ms Johnson said she was terrified and could not escape until her husband came down the stairs.

She said: "When the police arrived... he suddenly changed and said 'Good evening, I'm Jonathan Nunn'."

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Mr Nunn pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife and temporarily resigned as a councillor.

In his police interview, he said it was "not his typical character" and he would "take steps" to ensure it did not happen again. He told police he did not recall attacking Ms Johnson.

A year later, Mr Nunn was in another allegedly abusive relationship.

Carolyn Marks, 60, met Mr Nunn in 2005 and the couple had twins a year later.

"I felt this heightened level of anxiety: that I had to be the wall between him and my children," she said.

"Jonathan would swear, hurl abuse and belittle me when I was exhausted. He would throw his fist at the doors and kick things.

"He would say 'Look at you. You're not worth having. Who's going to want you?'."

West Midlands Police recorded a domestic violence incident against Mr Nunn in 2008 after Ms Marks reported him.

In an audio recording shared with the BBC, he is heard repeatedly swearing at her for throwing half a pizza in the bin and calling her a "waste of space".

In 2012, a family court ordered that he should attend a domestic violence perpetrator programme.

Mr Nunn told the BBC he had "always been open and honest" about the fact that 20 years ago he received a conviction for assault.

"Domestic abuse is never acceptable and I profoundly regret this," he added.

Between 2010 and 2012, Mr Nunn got into another relationship with a woman he met in his professional role as a councillor.

The woman, who we are calling Sylvia, said at first Mr Nunn was "terribly gracious, then suddenly one day he turned".

"He was abusive," she said. "I felt threatened. There was a lot of swearing, spitting, waving arms, pacing and kicking things."

Sylvia said he punched a wall in front of her while she was in bed with her children.

"That was the final straw," she said. "I had to exit the relationship carefully because he was a danger to them."

Mr Nunn strongly denied the allegations but said he had "worked hard to make up for the past by trying to contribute something positive".

"Central to this has been working hard as a councillor to put as much as I can back into my local community," he said.

As leader of West Northamptonshire Council, he has acted as a spokesperson for various women's initiatives.

He presented awards for National Women's Day last year. And in April 2022, he launched the It Only Takes One campaign, tackling violence against women.

Speaking at the event, Mr Nunn said: "Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home… and we want residents to move around freely and without fear."

Web archives show his comments and an accompanying photograph were removed from the council's online press release at some point over the past four months.

A spokesperson said it was done to "avoid distracting attention from the campaign".

Allegations that Mr Nunn has abused several women emerged in January in the form of emails sent by his first wife, Maria Botterill.

Mrs Botterill, 57, was in a relationship with Jonathan Nunn for 10 years from 1990.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "Jonathan... is a real Jekyll and Hyde character. He is very manipulative."

Mrs Botterill claimed he threatened her with a knife on more than one occasion, "whacked" her while she was a passenger in his car, spat at her and held her against the floor.

She said the abuse grew more intense when she became pregnant.

"He punched and kicked me all the time," she said. "Once I remember curling up in a ball to protect the child and him just kicking me.

"At the end of our marriage it's like I had no confidence because of his controlling nature."

Mrs Botterill's allegations, which Mr Nunn also denies, have been the subject of debate in recent weeks.

In March, Paul Clark, an independent councillor, asked a question about them at the full council meeting but his microphone was cut off.

The chief executive officer of West Northants Council, Anna Earnshaw, later emailed Mr Clark to say "the claims about domestic violence were a personal matter and not for the council to investigate".

Since then, opposition politicians have issued statements calling for Mr Nunn's resignation.

Mr Nunn told us the police were "investigating a sustained campaign of harassment" against him, and that "the trial by media had been relentless and exhausting".

Northamptonshire Police confirmed it was looking into a report of alleged harassment made by Mr Nunn.

When asked about claims he had abused women, a spokeswoman said it did not comment on investigations unless someone has been arrested or charged.

A spokesperson for WNC said it considered the BBC's findings to be "serious allegations, but ones strenuously denied by the leader".

"The council is not in a position to validate them as that is a matter for the police," the council added.

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You can reach Jon Ironmonger by email at jon.ironmonger@bbc.co.uk