Man jailed after woman's balcony fall death

A man has been jailed for 18 years for manslaughter after a frightened woman fell or jumped to her death from a third-floor balcony.

Tia Langdon, 25, died in hospital after falling from a block of flats at Cuckmere Lane, Southampton, on 28 August 2025.

Jaiden Hassan-Agard, 20, of Stour Close, Southampton, was convicted in July of nine charges against two women, including manslaughter, false imprisonment, assault and making threats to kill.

Sentencing him at Winchester Crown Court, Mrs Justice Tipples said: "You terrorised her so much that she saw no option but to try to escape you by going over the balcony."

Hassan-Agard was sentenced to 18 years in a young offender institution, with an extended licence period of three years, after the judge found he posed "a significant risk to the public of serious harm". Sentences for the other offences will run concurrently.

Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, said Langdon and a friend, Shannon McNeil, were helping Hassan-Agard to pack drugs at McNeil's flat when he alleged that some had gone missing.

The defendant became angry and used two machetes to stab furniture and a water bottle, the barrister said.

"He said he was going to torture them and made mention of waterboarding and chopping them up," she continued.

Hassan-Agard then punched Langdon in the face, breaking her nose, the court heard.

After a prolonged period of being threatened, the "desperate" victim ran to the balcony "either seeking to escape or she jumped", Jones said.

Langdon landed on concrete and died the following day.

The judge told Hassan-Agard: "I'm sure you were excited by fear and terror you instilled in these women. The more scared and frightened they got, the more excited you got."

She said it was clear Langdon had been fatally injured, but he did nothing to help her.

Hassan-Agard was arrested several days later, the prosecutor told the court.

He later denied any violent behaviour, blaming McNeil for being "very aggressive", she added.

Hassan-Agard, also known as Rocco, was convicted of manslaughter and causing actual bodily harm via the punch.

He was also found guilty of threatening to kill both women, threatening them with an offensive weapon in private and falsely imprisoning them, as well as a charge of kidnapping McNeil.

The court heard Hassan-Agard had been assessed as a victim of modern slavery, having become involved in drugs from the age of 11.

He had previous convictions for the rape of a 12-year-old girl, actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm, committed when he was 15.

In a victim statement read by the barrister, Langdon's mother Rebecca Spacagna said she was "loved beyond measure".

"She had hopes, dreams that have been cruelly taken away," the statement added.

After the sentencing, Langdon's family said: "Today's sentence will not bring Tia back, nor will it lessen the pain of losing her in such terrifying and tragic circumstances."

James Foster, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Hassan-Agard had "compounded the suffering of those involved by refusing to seek emergency help".

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