Thug put bag over girlfriend's head and pushed her down stairs in horror abuse
A woman who thought she'd found her ideal boyfriend was subjected to a campaign of cruel physical and mental abuse within months of their relationship beginning.
Rebecca Griffiths thought Dean Hennessy was funny and charming when she met him in December 2020, but within four months he had become jealous and violent. The the 33-year-old mum from Bridgend was strangled, humiliated, threatened and left permanently scarred by the thug. However, Rebecca has bravely spoken out in the hope that her story will help survivors and victims of domestic abuse feel less alone, and to empower them to reach out for help.
But Rebecca Griffiths soon found out that wasn't the case (Rebecca Griffiths/Media Wales)
The mum suffered injuries at the hands of her ex (Rebecca Griffiths/Media Wales)Rebecca told WalesOnline about the beginning of this highly traumatic period in her life, saying: "We met online in December, 2020, and it went well at the beginning. Then, after two months of being together, I had to move out of my rented property because the landlord wanted to sell it and there were limited properties available so I couldn’t find anywhere to live. He suggested that I move in with him.
"I felt a bit apprehensive about that because we hadn’t known each other for a very long time, but I was desperate. Things were fine and we were really happy until around four months into the relationship when he started to show signs of jealousy and paranoia about the time I spent on social media."
The first violent episode happened to the student mental health nurse in May, 2021, Rebecca said she noticed Hennessy, now 58, sitting outside in his van while she was preparing for a presentation. Wondering what he was doing Rebecca said she texted him to find out, to which she was met with explosive rage.
Dad furious after boy, 6, orders over $1,000 of takeaways while his mum is out
"He came back into the house and was really angry," she said. "He ripped up my paperwork which smashed across the living room and grabbed me by the hair. He took me into the kitchen and then threw my head onto the tiles on the floor. With that. my head swelled up instantly."
Rebecca said she could hear panic in Hennessy's voice as he put a compress on her head and apologised, but she was left with selling and a black eye. She said: "After that he asked me what I would tell people and we tried to think of a story that was plausible."
He was jailed for two years and six months in October (Media Wales)He asked her to tell one of his family members she had slipped and fell onto the kitchen counter. He became upset and remorseful and given that it was the first incident Rebecca believed him. He promised it would never happen again. However, that was not the case and Rebecca described how Hennessy attacked her on the stairs after an argument, elbowing her into a wall and then kicking her which led to her falling backwards, leaving a red mark on her stomach, after he had told her to leave the house – a regular occurrence
There was then a particularly humiliating incident after another argument when Rebecca had been in the shower. She said: "I was sitting on the bed in a towel and he was screaming at me. He picked up a bottle of lager on the bedside table which was still about a quarter or half full. He poured that over my head and then put lubricant in my hair. He pulled the towel off me so I was naked which made me feel very vulnerable and he was saying: 'get out of my house now'."
She said he would not listen to her pleas to let her put clothes on and threatened to hurt himself and call the police on her if she didn't obey him – another form of abuse he regularly used throughout their relationship. He was trying to get her to lose her job and my children as she needs to be DBS checked and can't be involved with the police. She said: "I was terrified, I remember the fear of having to make a choice of either refusing to leave and have him threaten to ring the police and lie about me, or I would have to leave the house naked. I didn’t want to make either of these decisions. Both of them were terrifying."
By this time, Rebecca had learned how to calm Hennessy's outbursts. She said she apologised to him even when she had not done anything wrong and showed him affection to make him feel as loved as possible. But the violence and mental abuse continued and she wanted to leave. However, Hennessy would threaten to ruin her life and kill himself if she dared. She absolutely believed he would do this and said she became further entrapped in a cycle of abuse that was rapidly escalating.
She has explained how things got out of control between them (Media Wales)She said abusive relationships are "complex" and added: "When you’re in a relationship with someone who is abusive, they lovebomb you. He could be warm and complimentary and he would suck me back in so I felt loved. There was also a threat that he would ruin my life and then kill himself, so there was a constant threat that I would lose everything. My self-esteem became so low that I was so dependent on him."
A common theme in Hennessy's abuse, Rebecca said, was that he became paranoid and jealous whenever she wore a skirt and tights. She recalled a number of incidents when he ripped them off her body in rage. He would also record her on his phone while she was crying and distressed as a means of mocking and tormenting her.
But there were two instances in January, 2022 that ended up being her way out of the relationship, although they were terrifying. She said that on January 17, Hennessy noticed she had slightly parked her car on the pavement and became angry. He demanded she leave the house and became violent when she tried to collect her clothes.
Rebecca said: "I went to get a plastic bag so I could go and get some of my stuff as I had a funeral the following day. He stood in the way and said: 'you're not getting your clothes, get out of my house'. I told him I just wanted my stuff for the funeral and he told me I'm not going. Then he took the bag out of my hand and pushed me on the sofa and put the plastic bag over my head and held it there. When he took it off he said he was going to take his dogs for a walk and then hit me with the dog lead. When he walked out with his dogs I got my stuff and left.
'So fed up of tiresome pal flirting with my husband and always putting me down'
She said Hennessy demanded she take her key back within 30 minutes of his text, despite her being in a rush because it was the morning of the funeral. When she arrived, he called her a "f*cking sl*g" and during the funeral, she said Hennessy became paranoid and began texting her accusing her of meeting up with men. She said he even accused her of having sex with her mother's partner when she dropped a family member home.
When she went back to Hennessy's house that evening, she said it seemed tense, but she didn't expect that she would be fearing for her life the next morning. She said: "He picked up his phone and turned his back to me. I asked him why he turned his back to me which triggered him. I had tights and a skirt on, he said: 'don't f*cking question me, you're not f*cking allowed to wear tights and a skirt to work, how many times have I told you?' and then he ripped my tights and ripped my skirt off me. He grabbed me on the bed and forced his hands around my neck.
"He had strangled me many times before, but this was more prolonged, tighter and more aggressive. I remember him screaming in my face with his hands around my neck and I really couldn’t breathe – no words would come out of my mouth and I was becoming weaker. I thought I was going to die. Eventually he did let go and then he said: 'Why the f*ck is there blood on the bed?' – I think I had bitten my cheek or my tongue when he had his hands around my neck."
He took her phone and hid it and that incident was the "final straw" because she feared what might come next, so she left as though she was going to work – but left blood on her face to prove what had happened. Highly distressed, she drove to her mum's work who then drove her to the police station.
Shortly afterwards, Hennessy, of Ffordd Cadfan, Bridgend, was arrested. Whatsapp messages and pictures were provided as evidence, but Hennessy pleaded not guilty to two charges of actual bodily harm and one charge of coercive control. In June, 2022, non-fatal strangulation came into force as an offence. Hennessy could not be charged with this because his actions towards Rebecca happened before that time and the law cannot be applied retrospectively. However, prosecutor Thomas Roberts confirmed that evidence of Hennessy strangling Rebecca was heard at court.
A trial began at Cardiff Crown Court on September 11, but two days later, after Rebecca gave evidence, Hennessy changed his plea to guilty. He entered a plea deal, which meant he would only be sentenced for coercive control if she accepted his guilty plea, otherwise the trial would continue.
A letter sent from the Crown Prosecution Service to Rebecca on September 18 stated how the defendant 'accepted that the two assaults were a part of the controlling and coercive behaviour charge' and that the judge would sentence on the controlling and coercive behaviour charge, 'knowing the full extent of the two assaults'. On October 11, Hennessy was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for coercive control, made to pay a £190 surcharge and given a five-year restraining order preventing him from contacting Rebecca.
Despite the conviction, Rebecca said the relationship had resulted in physical and emotional scars which would more than likely last her a lifetime. She added: "I have a permanent scar just under my eye from where he gouged it with his nails. For a long time I also had a tremor in my hand because of the anxiety. When I met my current partner not long after, I would flinch if he occupied my space or made sudden movements. I would cover my face as an automatic response, although he has never been violent towards me."
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