The co-founder of an estate agency in Cornwall has pleaded guilty to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to an incident involving his former girlfriend.

Gareth Wills, of Old Well Gardens in Penryn, appeared at Truro Crown Court last week where he entered a guilty plea after initially being due to stand trial. The charge relates to an incident on 8 December 2025.

The 47-year-old was re-arraigned in court, where his plea was accepted by the prosecution.

The court heard the offence falls within sentencing guidelines carrying a starting point of 18 months’ imprisonment, with a range between 36 weeks and two years. The judge indicated that, under current sentencing practice, any custodial sentence imposed may fall below 12 months and ordered a pre-sentence report.

The court was told Wills has previous convictions for harassment linked to a business dispute, although he has no prior convictions for violence or domestic-related offences.

He was remanded on existing bail conditions and instructed to continue cooperating with probation services ahead of sentencing, which is due to take place at a later hearing.

Wills, a co‑founder of the Lewis Haughton Wills estate agency with branches in Falmouth, Penryn and Truro, was previously jailed in 2022 for two and a half years after being convicted of harassment and breaching restraining orders, including the posting of threatening content on social media relating to former colleagues.

In 2024, he was also fined for breaching a restraining order after a social media post, with further restrictions imposed preventing contact with named individuals and commentary about them online.

Estate agency founder jailed after threatening to kill directors