Gillespie Investigates... Domestic Terror

I'm Judith Gillespie. For many years, I was a serving police officer here.

During that time, I saw many things, both bad...

..and good.

-JOURNALIST:

-Judith Gillespie now finds herself

sitting on the Policing Board alongside Sinn Fein.

Thankfully, as a community, we have moved on.

Now I've left the police and I'm passing on my experience

to the next generation at this business class.

I'm not approaching this from a particularly academic perspective,

I'm approaching it from the point of view

that I've been a police officer for 32 years.

I joined when I was four, of course! LAUGHTER

So, here, we have some rare photographs

from my early police career.

That's Andersonstown Police Station.

It was one of my very first police stations.

We've come a long way from the dark days of the past,

but despite progress in many areas, we still have some serious issues.

One of them is domestic violence, mainly against women.

Last year, there were 28,000 incidents.

WOMAN SOBS

There's an emergency call like this every 19 minutes.

And the numbers are going up.

But behind each number is a victim.

He put his hands around my throat and pushed me up against the wall

and he was stamping on me and punching me.

While assaults on men do happen, up to six women are murdered

at the hands of their partner or ex-partner every year.

Thousands are injured.

Many live in fear and in silence.

Then he grabbed me, er, literally dragged me to the car

and punched me inside the car and I got winded.

All my life, being honest

and to lie and to keep up a lie made me feel ashamed of myself.

'So why are some men so violent to women?

'I want to look those in the eye who beat their partners.'

Where did you kick her?

In the chest, the neck and face and head.

She had multiple breaks and fractures in her cheeks.

'Most of all, it destroys the lives of our children

'who carry the scars to the next generation.'

We've dealt with terrorism in this country for a long time,

yet we're not recognising the terrorism that happens in homes.

The question is - are our laws fit for purpose?

Do we really understand what's going on in people's homes?

Is each and every one of us doing enough

to rid our society of this scourge?

So, we're driving along Stockman's Lane towards West Belfast

and, when I worked here during the Troubles,

we always had to be escorted by the Army,

both for going onto shifts and during the shift.

And always at the back of your mind was the prospect of an ambush,

whether by gun, rocket or a bomb attack,

especially at shift changeover times.

I can remember attending domestic violence incidents here

or family rows, as they would've been called in those days,

where the police would've seen their role as to reconcile the situation,

rather than deal with the assault and, of course, when we attended,

it would have been nine male police officers, four soldiers and

myself, the wee policewoman, to deal with what was quite serious crime.

It was even risky for the victim to call the police herself.

But nowadays, that has changed and the police have a policy

of arresting the alleged perpetrator straightaway.

'I'm meeting a young woman

'who was in an abusive relationship for ten years.

'She's one of a number of women who have bravely decided

'to tell their stories to me in detail on camera for the first time.'

The abuse, it didn't start as violence.

It started out more like emotional abuse, um...

When I had moved in with him, he was working and I wasn't

and, like, I didn't really pick up on it at the start.

Rosie McEntee from County Armagh was in an abusive relationship

with Darren McKeown from the age of 16.

They had two children.

He didn't like me leaving the flat while he was at work, um,

which I thought he was just... he was just being overprotective.

Then it got to the stage where he would want me to meet him

at the bottom of the road when he was getting dropped off

and he would literally go frantic

if I wasn't standing at the bottom of the road waiting on him.

An example of McKeown's aggressive and controlling behaviour

was captured on this home video.

'The first time that he was actually physical towards me was'

when my first child was only two months old.

Um, my ex had been drinking all day, so he had, um,

and he arrived home at 12 o'clock at night

and he came in through the door shouting and demanding

that I come down the stairs and drink with him.

I'd no sooner got into bed till he had come running up the stairs

and into the bedroom and trailed me by the hair out of bed,

across the bedroom and tried to actually trail me

down the stairs by the hair.

I got away from him and I got my phone

and I locked myself in the bathroom,

because I was just... I was petrified.

He had never, ever done anything like that before. He'd...

He'd only ever used emotional abuse towards me.

Um, and I was just... I was petrified, so I rang the police.

McKeown persuaded Rosie to drop her complaint

and lie to the police.

I look back now and I know that

that was the first and most vital mistake that I had made was,

you know, sending them police away that night, because, literally,

I just handed him so much power and he knew all he had to do was cry

and, you know, tell me he was never going to do it again,

and make me feel guilty, and I would...

you know, I would back down.

Rosie finally plucked up the courage to leave him

after he beat her up outside a pub.

He kept kicking me, kicking my head off the kerb

and literally walking up and down the street

roaring, saying, "Somebody stop me, because I'm going to kill her!"

and then, kicking me again, um...

And he had... He got arrested, um, but I wouldn't press charges.

I wouldn't make a statement, I was too afraid to make a statement.

Um, and he got released the next morning.

And when I saw the taxi pull up, I knew it was him, so I ran outside.

And, when I ran away from him, he grabbed me by the hair

and trailed me and said, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

and trailed me back into the house

and just kept punching and punching my face.

With the help of Women's Aid and the PSNI,

Rosie moved to a refuge and later to a house,

where she began a new life with her children,

away from where she used to live.

Her ex-partner was jailed for nine months,

but one day, Darren McKeown turned up at her door.

McKeown trailed Rosie into the street and viciously beat her again.

I knew that it wasn't going to end well.

I knew, I just knew!

I knew by the look in his eyes that his plan was to kill me.

'With the help of a neighbour and a passing van driver,

'she managed to escape and call the police.'

SHE SOBS

Rosie suffered a number of injuries.

Her former partner was jailed,

this time for three years.

Rosie's children were taken into care.

She's hoping to get them back.

SOFT CHATTER

He is, yeah.

She tries to be, but...

I do believe that my children going into the care system, you know,

has caused them further grief and further, you know, heartache.

They shouldn't have had to went through

witnessing the domestic abuse, but then, to be taken away

from their mother - you know, it wasn't the answer.

'The Western Trust said that, respecting confidentiality,

'it does not comment on individual cases.'

So what advice would you give to a woman, young or old in your position,

and the first time their partner physically attacks them?

To get out straightaway and don't...

You know, don't fall for the same thing that I fell for,

don't fall for the tears and the excuses

and the promises that it's not going to happen again, because...

I know for a fact that, me, if I had pushed forward

with the police that first time he laid hands on me,

I wouldn't have went through the years of, you know,

additional violence and abuse that I went through.

Um, and I handed him the power.

Listening to Rosie there,

she talks about many years of utterly controlling

and manipulative behaviour by her partner.

And he completely isolated her from her family and her friends.

And sometimes, vulnerable women like Rosie just don't realise

that there is help out there.

But then, part of me wonders,

do some of us look the other way when this is happening

and we just don't want to get involved?

In England and Wales in December 2015, new legislation was introduced

to deal with coercive and controlling behaviour,

but there are no immediate plans in Northern Ireland

to introduce similar legislation.

I think I'll go back and I'll ring her again and just offer maybe

a bit more support, knowing the extra stuff there we've heard and...

Keeping survivors of domestic violence and their children safe

involves a whole range of agencies who meet regularly.

The resources are huge, it costs society millions,

never mind the human cost.

An ambulance was tasked and she was taken to hospital.

She had a fractured wrist,

which she stated was the result of a recent fall.

Around this table are social workers, police,

the Housing Executive and probation officers.

Along with organisations like Women's Aid, they help survivors

pick up their lives and assess any further risks to them.

From our point of view, we could offer temporary accommodation,

put her in a fully-furnished property,

and get her out of the situation she's in.

We could look at extra security,

just make her as safe as possible in her new home.

Today, I'm going to visit someone who ended up in a refuge.

For her and for her children, it was a terrifying experience.

She's a highly-qualified person

and her abuser is a highly-qualified professional as well.

Julie Ann had three children from her first marriage,

when she met Juan Augusto 12 years ago, here in Northern Ireland

and lived in County Down.

Juan, will you take Julie Ann to be your wife?

They later got married and had two children of their own,

one of whom has learning difficulties.

Juan Augusto is a university professor

and Julie Ann is a health care manager.

When Julie Ann then began to study part-time to further her career,

it was a problem for Juan.

If I needed to travel for work,

then it was really just absolutely not supported. In fact, it was

-deemed to be really quite unreasonable.

-Mm-hm.

And, in fact, he once said I was only doing my PhD

-to compete with him!

-SHE LAUGHS

As tensions rose over Julie Ann's career,

and Juan's controlling behaviour escalated,

he accused her of being unfaithful.

There were, um...

issues, always as an undercurrent, which frequently surfaced.

He was absolutely convinced I was having an affair,

which, I mean, is just absolutely ludicrous.

Thanks to life, that has given me so much...

One day, Julie Ann arrived home to find Juan in a dark mood.

When she tried to talk to him, she says he became angry.

He started charging towards me.

I could hear him coming back towards me.

And I faced him and he had this horrendous blackness to his face.

You know, I mean, anger and, um, his arms outstretched.

He put his hands around my throat and pushed me up against the wall.

And the last thing I remember, Judith, was thinking,

"I hope he doesn't know to carry on strangling after I'm unconscious."

And then...

when I came round, I was on the floor, which is a tiled floor,

and I could feel the blows raining down,

and he was stamping on me and punching me,

and he put his hands into my mouth

and proceeded to try and pull my teeth out,

and that was absolutely excruciating.

His wedding ring, um, broke these teeth here.

He started hitting again.

And I said, "Juan, I'm sorry, please stop."

I didn't scream, it was probably not very loud and, at that point,

it's almost that he became, um, just without any control at all.

The beating only stopped

because their eight-year-old daughter intervened.

She started screaming,

really, really, really bloodcurdling screaming.

Consciousness was returning.

And then, I knew it was her, because she said, you know,

"Stop it, Pappy, stop it!" in a very demanding way,

and punctuating her screams.

I opened my eyes and just saw a sea of blood over the tiled floor.

Julie Ann managed to flee in absolute terror from the house

and dialled 999.

SHE WAILS

She was taken to hospital and the police came to take a statement.

Her husband had also called the emergency services.

He was arrested and charged.

He told the police he had had "a moment of insanity".

-What sort of injuries did you have? Can you tell us about those?

-Yes.

Well, I had broken teeth and a non-displaced fracture of my nose.

Um, my complete head, though you could only see the face,

my complete head was just one enormous bruise.

I had 22 individual and really significant contusions

across my torso and arm.

Very, very painful to try and breathe.

I was really sore, I was really sore.

I was actually quite worried for Juan as well, um...

You know, I had genuinely driven home that night thinking,

"I can't wait to see him. I love my husband so much."

And...and then, in the hospital, I was thinking, you know,

"What are the police going to do to him?!

"He must've gone mad! What's happened?"

'Julie Ann and her children left the family home for their own safety.'

I went to live in a women's refuge in Bangor.

The women in there were priceless.

But it was not home.

It was a very tearful moment, looking into a wicker basket with...

new towels and soap and toothbrushes and things that weren't mine,

but had been donated by other women.

And we had to rely on them.

And then, um...

to be given a food parcel

that had been collected by people in a church.

The support from Women's Aid helped Julie Ann and her children

get their lives back together, but her ordeal was far from over.

I'm on my way to Londonderry to meet Marie Brown of Women's Aid

where a lot of pioneering work is going on.

Derry has one of the highest rates of reported domestic violence

in Northern Ireland.

Marie told me that many women who arrive on the doorstep

find themselves at greater risk, because they're expecting a baby.

Sometimes, there's a jealousy of the pregnancy,

because it's taken her attention away,

or a jealousy even of the children, because she's not able to function

to meet his needs in the same way, cos their appearance changes,

they put on weight, they're not perfect, you know, and even

the emotional attacks on them about they're fat, they're lazy,

when really they're just pregnant women who need supported and loved

and, you know, and cherished and that's quite a difficult...

And even after having the baby, I mean, one story stands to my mind

where a young woman came out after having a Caesarean

and he ripped her staples out,

because she refused to go and get him alcohol.

Is it possible, actually, to come out the other end and survive?

It's important for all women out there

to know that they can survive this

and, you know, and it's one of the things that we would say to women

going through court, um, as terrible as all of this is,

it's going to be over and you're going to come out the other end.

'Convicted perpetrators are dealt with by Probation,

'but the NSPCC has a role as well. It tries to help men

'who recognise they have a problem and want to change.

'It's rare for one to talk on camera.

'Jim, not his real name, chose not to reveal his identity

'and his voice has been disguised.'

Tell us about the relationship you had with your partner.

I had a very good relationship with my partner.

It was a very happy, very loving,

caring relationship.

What actually happened, Jim?

Um, we had a lovely family day...

..and the drinking went late on into the night.

And we had an argument.

And the argument turned to physical abuse.

So what exactly happened?

HE HESITATES

I wanted to retrieve my child

from my ex-partner, as things were heated.

There was screaming and shouting.

Um...

..and she tripped...

she fell...

..and actually protected the child in the fall.

But I didn't realise this at the time

and I went to retrieve my child.

She wouldn't let go,

believing I was the one actually capable of hurting my child.

And I kicked my ex-partner until she let go.

Where did you kick her?

In the chest, the neck and face and head.

She had multiple breaks and fractures in her cheeks

and her nose and her sinuses.

There was quite a severe amount of damage caused,

a lot of swelling, bruising.

And what would you say

perhaps to a woman who is in an abusive relationship?

I'd tell her to walk away now and go and get help.

I've just come out of a... really difficult conversation,

which was hard to listen to, with Jim.

At one level, he's an ordinary guy,

probably a nice guy if you met him for the first time,

but at another level, at the flick of a switch,

he kicks his partner repeatedly in the chest and head

and all the time while she's holding this very young toddler.

And I'm left thinking, "What if? What if he'd missed?

"What if he'd hit the child?" Bad as the injuries were to his partner,

it could've been so much worse, and I asked him, I probed him,

"What was the cause of this anger? Where did it come from?"

But he just didn't want to go there.

It's almost a year after Julie Ann

was attacked by her husband Professor Juan Augusto.

Today, she will face him in court.

Revisiting those terrifying events will be a painful experience for her.

He is charged with assault, occasioning actual bodily harm,

and could go to jail.

But finding closure and justice can be an agonising process.

I'm feeling OK, but a wee bit stressed, really...

-I'll bet you are.

-..and quite emotional.

-Yeah.

So have you been churning events over in your head?

I haven't. I think it's just a fear for today.

You know, I really just don't want to see him again.

'But her fear of meeting him was unfounded - he failed to turn up.

'The judge decided to go ahead with the case

'and heard all the evidence.

'Juan was convicted and sentenced to three months in jail.

'A warrant was issued for his arrest in England, where he now lives.'

One month later, Juan Augusto did appear in court.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of actual bodily harm,

but appealed against his jail sentence, claiming that his wife

had exaggerated the severity of the attack on her.

It meant that Julie Ann would have to come back to court

four weeks later to face a man she now feared.

The strain was clearly telling.

Absolutely terrified. Really, really frightened today, actually.

I feel worse today than I did last time.

But once again, Julie Ann's hopes of closure

and a chance to move on with her life were crushed.

After some deliberation, the judge decided to give both parties time to

"agree the facts of the attack"

or the case would go to a full hearing yet again.

Ten days later, Augusto did finally agree

to his wife's account of what actually happened.

It's been a real test of endurance.

You know, there are very many days where I just think...

I just wish it would go away and I wish it was over

and I would never have expected that, um...

you could be put on such a journey.

You know, the attack was one thing which I hadn't expected,

but equally, my expectations of what happened to you afterwards,

they're just... I couldn't have imagined it

and it is a test of endurance.

It is a test of endurance, um, but... I just...

I just hope he... he genuinely is remorseful

and that, whatever sentence is passed on Friday,

that he's given time to reflect on, actually,

the extent of the devastation he brought to the family, so...

Juan Augusto was given 100 hours community service

and two years probation.

But what if he began a new relationship?

Would his new partner have any way

of knowing about his previous history?

It turns out that there is a way. It's known as Clare's Law.

In England and Wales, a woman can ask the police and other agencies

to check on a partner's past, if they feel they might be at risk.

But that law doesn't exist here

and neither does the coercive control law.

-Hi, George.

-Hello, how are you?

-Good to see you again.

-Lovely to see you again.

-Yeah!

-Welcome back to Antrim Road.

-How are you?

-I'm very well.

It's good to be back in a police station.

BOTH LAUGH

-I can't say it's been painted!

-SHE LAUGHS: No.

I think Clare's Law comes from

a very well thought through premise,

which is, the more information people have, the better decisions

they can make that keep themselves and children safer.

So I think, about passing information to people that

care about someone who may be the victim or survivor of abuse,

or the potential victim or survivor of abuse, is a good thing.

I think society needs to make it clear that it won't tolerate abuse,

and how society makes its opinions known is through law.

So I think, professionally and organisationally, we'd welcome a law

that says coercive control is inappropriate,

it will be prosecuted.

Coercive control is something that many people may be experiencing

and perhaps don't themselves recognise, so it's helpful

to reflect on what a healthy relationship looks like.

'But despite all the positive action

'to curb what is a scourge on our society, George believes

'there are still many victims who have yet to come forward.'

We're talking about 30% of our cases not being reported to us.

There's a lot of abuse being visited upon people

who aren't getting the necessary help from the police service.

Many women suffer in silence and it becomes a guilty secret.

Anna Lo was one of Northern Ireland's high-profile politicians...

Anna Lo has reached the quota

-and is deemed elected.

-CHEERING

..with a reputation for standing up to bullies and paramilitaries.

This is an excuse, we believe, of some elements in Northern Ireland

to try to intimidate and alienate ethnic minority people here.

For the first time, she has decided to speak publicly

about her own experience as a victim of domestic violence

and the breakdown of her marriage to local businessman Gavin Millar.

It was more a... controlling personality,

compounded by a short fuse and a bad temper.

Um, I left him twice, really, after the results of violence.

On the first occasion, um, he was in a bit of a rage, really.

I jumped out of the car when he stopped to turn right and I got out

and then, he turned round... turned the car round

and, er, then he grabbed me, literally dragged me to the car

and punched me inside the car and I got winded.

Um, so there were always excuses, you know, for bad behaviour.

Then I...then I left him.

Not immediately, I left him and then I went back to him

after he had received some months of counselling and therapy.

Then we decided, actually, to get married.

We married in July 2010.

Some might say, why on earth did you marry him?

I married him, because there were good times too.

And also, I always felt he loved me and I loved him and you forgive.

Um, but then, a year later, he hit me

and when, I turned round - to get away, really, from him -

he pushed me and I felt very angry, not just of the assault,

but also the fact that I could not tell people.

I was covering up for him, I was lying to people,

how I was signed off for weeks.

Um, but I told him that, if he ever hit me again,

I would just leave him and it happened again in November.

That was really about 16 months after we got married, in July 2010.

It was almost a light bulb moment, Judith, for me.

Then I just thought, yes, there would always be...

an excuse for hitting me and, if I don't leave now,

my life could be in danger.

He was also controlling.

He admitted to being jealous when we went out together

on functions and events, when people just wanted to talk to me.

So he behaved, on occasions, quite badly, even in public,

um, really feeling that he was being left out.

And I have always, all my life, been honest

and to lie, and to keep up a lie, made me feel ashamed of myself.

And it was that...really that anger that made me think twice

and say, "Right, yes, I had a beautiful home, and a good life,

"I'm walking away, I'm going to lose a lot of money.

"I'm going to lose half of my home," which really belonged to me.

But I know I had to leave.

I know that, if I didn't, it will...

I know it would happen again and again and again.

Anna Lo did not press charges.

I asked her ex-husband to take part, but he declined.

He strongly refuted Anna's account,

but acknowledged there were difficulties in the marriage.

Changes in the law take time.

Meanwhile, victims of attacks have got to get on with their lives.

THEY LAUGH

Since I spoke to Rosie,

her ex-partner has been released from jail.

He has continued to harass her.

She has reported it to the police.

Despite this, she feels she is in a better place.

'I've reconnected with my family and my sisters and my brothers.

'So that's something

'that's really important to me at the moment, like.'

Just the simple things, you know, just being able to leave the house

and go for a cup of coffee without having to ask permission

or be afraid that, you know, I'm going to be accused that

I'm going to meet a fella and not going to meet my sister, you know.

And I know it's scary, the thought of leaving

and what's out there afterwards, but it's...

You know, it's more scary staying.

When you do leave, life does get better.

You have to make that step, you have to do it.

But being a mother to her children again is

the one thing she wants above all else.

I just want to walk down the street with them.

Holding their hands and have no social workers around

and just walk down being a proud mummy and just...

just show the world, "These are my children."

That's all I want to do and I've always said it -

I just want to walk down the street with my children.

'Anna Lo has put the past behind her

'and has a much more positive outlook on life.'

-..this lovely garden and the sunshine.

-Yeah.

'I think it is important to value yourself.'

To feel you are someone that is important.

You have equal rights as anybody else.

And if someone is abusing you, why should you tolerate it?

You may love him and he may claim to love you,

but it needs to be an equal partnership.

It needs to be free from intimidation and harassment.

That is not true love.

This type of apple, they are supposed to be, I think,

eating apples. Well, I certainly have eaten them.

'I'm going to really enjoy my retirement, happy and free,

'and not feeling that...'

I'm being restricted in some ways,

that I always have to look over my shoulder,

to watch out whether someone, or my partner, was in a good mood.

Whether I should keep my mouth shut, whether I should watch my...

my, my...my words.

I can do what I want, when I want it, how I want it.

SIREN WAILS

On this journey, it's become clear to me that,

if society is really serious about tackling domestic terror,

some urgent steps are needed.

Firstly, our laws must become tougher.

Secondly, vulnerable women need to know that help is out there.

You don't have to suffer in silence.

And lastly, our children need to know

that violence against women is always wrong,

if future generations are to escape this relentless plague.