Abergele man attacked his ex-partner in front of their children

Christopher Roberts, 35, of Llwyn Morfa, was sentenced to three years and two months’ imprisonment at Mold Crown Court today (February 3).

Prosecuting, James Coutts told the court that Roberts and Ceri Owen were living together within weeks of meeting each other in early 2017.

But issues soon emerged; after a night out, he questioned her for hours about who she had seen and if she had kissed anyone, before checking messages on her phone and social media accounts.

During a holiday, when Ms Owen didn’t feel well enough to go out, Roberts carried her out of their hotel room and locked her outside, leaving her in the corridor dressed in only her underwear for roughly one hour.

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Ms Owen then discovered she was pregnant with her and Roberts’ first child, who was born in June 2018.

During her pregnancy, Roberts pinned her to a sofa by her arms, digging his nails in until she bled.

After the birth, Roberts was said to be unhappy about Ms Owen getting attention, and called her “fat”, “goofy” and “spotty”, despite knowing she was self-conscious about her appearance.

In January 2020, Ms Owen was pregnant again, and though Roberts was said to be initially delighted, regular arguments soon occurred.

This included him spitting in her face and throwing a drink over her head while she was driving.

After their son was born in October 2020, further incidents involved him pinning her down by her arms causing bruising, biting her shoulder, and pushing her over and punching her head.

In November 2021, Ms Owen decided to leave him, but he refused to accept this, crying and begging her to stay and telling her he would change.

Then, between May 2 and 7, 2022, the court heard that Roberts made 431 phone calls to Ms Owen, as well as stepping in front of her car outside her workplace and turning up at her house.

In the early hours of May 8, Ms Owen and her partner, Ben Doidge, were woken by a bang on the bedroom window of their bungalow, only to see Roberts and a second man, Gareth Murray, 26, of Clifton Road, Llandudno, outside.

Roberts shouted to her to open the door, and both he and Murray began kicking their back door and throwing a mop and bucket at it.

Ms Owen and Doidge went into Ms Owen’s children’s bedroom and tried to barricade the door shut with their bodies.

A large rock was then thrown through a window, before the door came off its hinges.

Roberts and Murray began throwing punches at Doidge, and when Ms Owen tried to get through them, she was hit in the side of the head.

The two men were arrested a short distance from Ms Owen’s house; when interviewed, Roberts said she told had him he could visit her home, and saw Doidge mistreating his daughter.

Ms Owen appeared in court to read out her own victim statement, in which she said that she spent their entire relationship “on eggshells”, adding that Roberts “broke my spirit”.

She said she would blame herself for how Roberts treated her, and that his abuse “made me lose who I am”.

Each week, Ms Owen sees a domestic violence counsellor, and is on daily medication to treat her anxiety, adding that, for six months after the break-in, she slept in her living room.

Ms Owen added: “Despite the fact you may not have killed me, I believe if it wasn’t for my children, I would not be here today.

“I’ll never forget the looks on my children’s faces from your actions (on the night of the break-in). You looked through her (daughter) like she didn’t even matter.

“I hope no other lady experiences the torment you have put me through.”

Roberts had no previous convictions, while Murray had one for assaulting an emergency worker.

Defending Roberts, Owen Edwards invited the court to issue him with a suspended sentence.

Edwards said he has since been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, receiving counselling, and has feared incarceration would put his window cleaning business and house at risk.

He said: “These proceedings have exposed a part of his character described by a probation officer as ‘vile’.

“He behaved in an obsessive, unpleasant, at times disgusting way towards a woman he purports to love.

“Otherwise, he has shown himself to be of exemplary character at times.”

Defending Murray, Elen Owen said her client “bitterly regrets” his actions and was “clearly swept away while heavily under the influence of alcohol by what he had been told by Roberts”.

He lost his job after being remanded in custody, but has since found work as a plasterer, and is in a stable relationship with another woman, with whom he has a son.

Sentencing, Judge Rhys Rowlands also imposed a statutory surcharge and a 10-year restraining order on Roberts.

Murray also received a 10-year restraining order, as well as a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Judge Rowlands ordered him to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work within the next year.

He will pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £350, and a £156 surcharge, in monthly instalments of £50.

Judge Rowlands described Roberts as a man who "sought obsessively to control and bully” Ms Owen, and who “refused to accept the relationship was over”.

Despite acknowledging that he was of “undoubted previous good character” and a “hard worker”, he deemed his behaviour too serious to avoid immediate custody.