Prestatyn couple’s peace of mind after ex-partner jailed for attack

Ben Doidge, 40, and Ceri Owen, 32, were asleep in Ms Owen’s Prestatyn bungalow in the early hours of May 8, 2022 when Christopher Roberts, 35, of Llwyn Morfa, Abergele, broke in and assaulted him.

Roberts, the father to Ceri’s two children aged two and four, was jailed for 38 months at Mold Crown Court on February 3.

His accomplice; Gareth Murray, 26, of Clifton Road, Llandudno, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, while both men received 10-year restraining orders.

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Though Mr Doidge said the sentences afforded him and his partner some peace of mind, and added that they are “doing great”, he said that there is still some way to go in making a full mental recovery.

Mr Doidge, a carpenter with three children of his own, remembered trying to tell Roberts to stop as his own children could see him throwing punches at him, but that it “didn’t register”.

While he knew at the time of some of the difficulties between Ms Owen, a human resources manager, and her ex-partner, the couple had only began their relationship in the previous month, so admitted he wasn’t aware of “half of the extent of what she was going through”.

He said: “I remember Ceri saying: ‘Just be quiet, they’ll go away’. We were advised to barricade ourselves in the kids’ bedroom by the person who answered our emergency call.

“There was continued banging, followed by an almighty crash, which we later realised was a rock the size of a football, maybe bigger, thrown through the window and into the kitchen.

“Ceri was telling him that his kids were there - ‘No, they’re not,’ he said. She told Gareth, who was just about to have a baby: ‘Think about your baby’.

“We all turned and faced each other, while the kids were waking up to all this and screaming, and there was a weird two-or-three-second pause, as if they were shocked to see that I was there, too.

Christopher Roberts (Image: North Wales Police)

“They started throwing a lot of punches at me. Ceri's daughter was screaming; ‘No, daddy, no; stop’, her son was out of bed screaming, in tears; he was only 18 months old at the time.

“I remember looking at Chris, thinking: ‘For God’s sake; your kids are here’. He just didn’t care; it didn’t register.”

In the week prior to the break-in, Roberts had made 431 phone calls to Owen, as well as stepping in front of her car outside her workplace and turning up at her house.

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While Roberts and Murray threw punches at Mr Doidge, Ms Owen tried to get through them, which resulted in one of their blows striking her in the side of her 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 the home.

Mr Doidge added: “The next minute, the police turned up and arrested them – the whole thing was about nine minutes, but it felt like half an hour.

“Ceri was hysterical, and worried that they’d picked a knife up from the kitchen or something, but I felt strangely calm.

“Ceri’s neighbour offered us sanctuary at her house; she had phoned the police at the same time as us, as well.”

Since the attack, Ms Owen sees a domestic violence counsellor weekly, and is prescribed daily medication to treat her anxiety.

For the following six months after the break-in, she slept in her living room, and occasionally still does, while she and her children still relive the terrifying incident, Mr Doidge said.

He hopes that the length of Roberts’ prison sentence was such that, by the time he has served it, the family will “all have moved on so much”.

Mold Crown Court, where both men were sentenced on February 3. (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Doidge said: “We walked out of court quite happy. It gives us peace of mind.

“We know he’s going to do 18 months inside, and then will have to keep his nose clean for another 18 months after (being released on licence).

“It’s 38 months of no aggravation. By then, we’ll all have moved on so much. We’re doing great, just getting on with our lives.

“It’s a building process; it’s about repairing herself. She still struggles; just last week, she slept in the lounge and kept having night terrors about it all. She has good and bad weeks.

“The youngest is too young so doesn’t say anything about it, but Ceri's daughter will come out with some comments every now and then.

“There was a bang on the door once, and she said something like: ‘Don’t worry; it’s not daddy breaking the door down again’.

“Ceri and I looked at each other as if to say: ‘Christ, she’s only four’. I think she struggles, too; she’s said in the past that she’s had dreams about ‘daddy killing mummy’.”

Mr Doidge was watching from the courtroom’s public gallery as Ms Owen read out her victim statement in person during Roberts’ and Murray’s sentencing on February 3.

She told the court that, during her relationship with Roberts, with lasted from early 2017 to late 2021, she spent the entire time “on eggshells”, adding that he “broke my spirit”.

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

Mr Doidge urged anyone in a similarly toxic relationship to seek help as soon as possible for their own safety, and commended his partner’s bravery in reading her statement out herself.

He added: “If you’re seeing the red flags now and know something is up, it doesn’t get better; it gets worse and more intense.

“I know this sounds quite drastic, but it could end up with you getting killed. My advice to anyone out there dealing with this is to speak to people, and to get out.

“I filled up a bit and got a lump in my throat (while Ms Owen read out her victim statement).

"To have the courage and strength to stand up and do that was something I was immensely proud of.”

• If you need support call The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.

• Men can call the Men's Advice Line on 0808 8010 327.