HereI was
again,lying
ina poolof
myown
blood
I fledthousandsofmilesfrom myviolent
exintothearmsofanothermonster
JoyPrichard, 48
DANGEROUSDEJAVU
No knight in
L
ying on my bedroom
floor, I felt blood dripping
down my cheek.
Pain seared through
my entire body.
I could hear my two
younger children – Morgan, 9,
and Ellis, 4 – crying.
AtthatmomentI knew
enoughwasenough.
It wasJune2009,andmy
partnerof sevenyears,Dale,
then35,had
thrown me on our bed, smashed
a can of cider in my face.
Dale had seemed charming
when I met him in a nightclub
in Caerphilly, in August 2002.
For a while things were good.
I already had three children
from a previous relationship,
myson,8, daughterHannah,
6, andMorgan,2.
WehadEllisinNovember
2004,marriedtwoyearslater.
Butthat’swhenthe
fairytaleended.
Daledrank,
pickedfights.
Soon,hewas
punchingand
slappingme.
Evenpulling
myhair.
It didn’t
matterif
thekids
werearound
ornot.
If Dale
decidedthat
hehadit informe,
I’dsoonhavethebruises
to showforit.
I’dmade 35 emergency
callsaboutdomestic
violenceduringour
marriage.Thepoliceevenset up an alarmed
panic room for
me in our home.
And now, here I was
again, lying in a pool of
my own blood.
At the University
Hospital of Wales, I needed
sixhoursof surgeryto
repairmyfracturedleft
eyesocketandnose.
Thesurgeonsmanaged
to reconstructmysocket
withtitaniumimplants.
‘I’mnotputting
mykidsthrough
thisagain,’I vowed.
InDecember
2009 atNewport
CrownCourt,
DaleWiegold
wasconvicted
of grievous
bodilyharm.
Hewassentenced
to 36weeksin
prison,suspended
fortwoyears.
Everyonewascompletely
stunnedbyDale’sconviction.
I’dbeentooembarrassedto
confideinanybodyaboutthe
hellI livedthroughathome.
Well,everyoneexcepta
friendI’dmetonline.KennyFolk,31,livedintheUS,in
SouthCarolina.
We’dgot chatting a few
yearsearlier, while playing
cardgames online.
Hewassympathetic, kind.
‘Howcould he?’ Kenny
fumed,when I told him about
Daleandthe cider can.
‘It’sover now,’ I assured him.
Lateron, our messages
turnedromantic.
But,with Dale still walking
thestreets, I lived in fear.
Barelyleft the house.
I’ma prisoner in my own
home, I told Kenny.
Comeand visit then, he said.
Andit just seemed like the
perfectanswer.
InSeptember 2010, I left theDaleandme
onourwedding
dayin 2006SH
IN
ING
ARMO
UR
Dale smashed
a can of cider
into my face