Sadie suffers flashbacks of the worst night of her life whenever she smells petrol.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of abuse some readers may find distressing
The scene she describes sounds like something from a horror film – but it was her reality.
She was held hostage in her own home by her then-husband who had their son held at knifepoint. He had doused her home in fuel, with a lighter in his hand, while their young daughter was asleep in the property.
A decade of coercive control had culminated in this.
Sadie (not her real name) feels let down by police after she’d previously reported her partner’s abuse – and she’s not alone.
Victims of domestic abuse say they’re being failed by a criminal justice system which isn’t working.
Prosecutions for domestic abuse-related crimes are down by 45% since 2015 in England and Wales, while thousands of protective orders – designed to prevent perpetrators from contacting victims – are being breached.
Police and prosecutors are now trying to fix the problem – but can it be resolved?
During her marriage, Sadie’s partner installed cameras in their house to monitor her, locked the family inside the property and regularly turned up unannounced at her work – even hiding in the boot of her car.
“If I went shopping, he would time me,” she says. “I’d have to video call him when going round the supermarket.”
After 10 years of her husband’s controlling behaviour, Sadie found the strength to end their relationship.
He was warned not to come back to the family home after being arrested for harassing her, and then released on bail – but he was undeterred.
One evening, Sadie was sat on the sofa watching TV with her son when she saw her ex approaching the house.
Stood in the door frame, he was armed with weapons and petrol so she called the police.
“When he saw the blue lights, he went absolutely crackers,” she says.
Image: Pic: iStock
Her ex warned that if Sadie had called the emergency services “we’re all going to die tonight”.
“He poured petrol all over the hallway, all the way up the stairs, all the way up the landing,” she says.
“He dragged me and my son into the front bedroom.”
Knife held to boy’s throat
Sadie was screaming, she was petrified. He’d threatened before but it felt different this time.
Hours went by before she tried to escape with her son but her ex grabbed him and held a knife to the boy’s throat.
Stood by the front door, she says police officers pulled her out of the property – but her son was still trapped inside.
In tears, she says: “That’s the guilt I have to live with. I always think that he thinks… I left him.”
The ordeal lasted several more hours before her children were released.
Sadie’s ex was arrested and eventually went to prison for his actions. He was sentenced to just under six years in jail with an indefinite restraining order. But even from prison, he tried to continue to harass her.
Image: Sadie says her ex-partner even hid in the boot of her car during his abusive behaviour. Illustration: Rebecca Hendin
He wrote letters and attempted to call her. Once her address was blocked, he’d write to friends and rang neighbours.
He’s now out of prison on licence and Sadie says she’s living in fear.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be free,” she says. “It’s always in the back of my mind. I’m scared. Especially now he’s released.
“Am I going to bump into him? Is he going to contact? Is he going to contact the kids?”
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Sharp rise in victims seeking criminal justice advice
Sadie says she reported some of her ex-husband’s abuse to the police over the years but she didn’t feel it was taken seriously.
She believes things could have been different if warnings were heeded.
According to data shared exclusively with Sky News, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline recorded a 40% rise in victims seeking advice about the criminal justice system between 2020 and 2023.
The Charity Refuge, which runs the helpline and is the largest specialist domestic violence charity in the UK, says this reflects a weakening sense of survivor trust in the system – as they’re instead turning to help from charities.
At a domestic violence support group meeting, other women share their experiences of domestic abuse.
They all say the system doesn’t work and that they’re penalised. Some have lost their homes with the abuser living in it. Others have had their children taken from them and told they’d made bad relationship choices.
One woman said the trauma of her abuse is in her head “constantly… every second of every day”.
Another woman says she watches out the window at night, even though she knows her ex is in prison.
Police and prosecutors taking new approach
The feeling of never being able to escape their abuse is a familiar one.
Deborah Jones, who runs the charity Resolute, says protective orders are “not worth the paper they’re written on”.
“A molestation order is not going protect a woman from domestic abuse, when they have fled domestic abuse,” she says.
“No piece of paper is going to do that.”
Image: Deborah Jones (R), who runs the charity Resolute, with Sky’s Mollie Malone
Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are now launching a “Joint Justice” plan to try and change their approach.
It involves a commitment to better collaboration on evidence from the outset to improve charge and conviction rates, as well as reducing the amount of time cases take to get through the system.
They also want to enforce an earlier and stronger use of protective orders for victims. There are various different types issued by the courts to prevent perpetrators from making contact or harassing their victims. But thousands of them are being breached every year.
The Joint Justice framework wants to provide more consistent support for victims throughout the process – from reporting their abuse to their case in court.
New technology is also being trialled to make it easier for victims.
At West Midlands Police, there is a specialist domestic abuse desk. Calls get triaged there from the main call centre – and the victim can have a phone call with a specialist officer on phone camera technology. That acts as early video evidence, to save repetitive statements and marked police cars turning up at the home.
Image: West Midlands Police has a specialist domestic abuse desk
There were more than two million reported victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales last year. The government says domestic abuse should be treated as a “national priority” crime – the same as terrorism.
‘Problem is too big’
Assistant Met Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, who is the national lead for domestic abuse, says victims aren’t being fully served by police and prosecutors at the moment “because the problem is too big”.
“I so desperately want to improve what we do,” she adds.
“It’s really important that we understand the scale of this. It is more than 10% of emergency calls to policing. It’s more than a third of violent crime. It’s a huge priority for policing.”
Image: Assistant Met Commissioner Louisa Rolfe is the national lead for domestic abuse
Kate Brown, from the CPS, says authorities need to “do better” and she has concerns about the drop in domestic abuse cases in courts as she wants offenders to see “just outcomes” for their crimes.
“We’re prosecutors, we want to see more of these cases,” she adds.
Image: Kate Brown from the CPS
For Sadie, it’s about support and being taken seriously.
“I had 10 years of abuse that nothing was ever done about,” she says.
“People used to say to me, something bad will happen. That will be the only way you’ll ever get out of it. And it did.”
A spokesman for the police force involved in Sadie’s case said: “Nobody in our communities should live in fear of domestic violence.
“We remain steadfastly committed to continuously improving our work in this area. That has included delivering bespoke training for a large proportion of our workforce.”
The first thing you notice when immigration officers stop a possible illegal moped delivery driver is the speed in which the suspect quickly taps on their mobile.
“We’re in their WhatsApp groups – they’ll be telling thousands now that we’re here… so our cover is blown,” the lead immigration officer tells me.
“It’s like a constant game of cat and mouse.”
Twelve Immigration Enforcement officers, part of the Home Office, are joining colleagues from Avon and Somerset Police in a crackdown on road offences and migrants working illegally.
The West of England and Wales has seen the highest number of arrests over the last year for illegal workers outside of London.
“It is a problem… we’re tackling it,” Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says. He covers all the devolved nations.
“This is just one of the operations going on around the country, every day of the week, every month of the year.”
Image: Murad Mohammed, from Immigration Enforcement, says his team are attempting to tackle the issue
Just outside the Cabot Circus shopping complex, we stop a young Albanian man who arrived in the UK on the back of a truck.
He’s on an expensive and fast-looking e-bike, with a new-looking Just Eat delivery bag.
He says he just uses it for “groceries” – but the officer isn’t buying it. He’s arrested, but then bailed instantly.
We don’t know the specifics of his case, but one officer tells me this suspected offence won’t count against his asylum claim.
Such is the scale of the problem – the backlog, loopholes and the complexity of cases – that trying to keep on top of it feels impossible.
This is one of many raids happening across the UK as part of what the government says is a “blitz” targeting illegal working hotspots.
Angela Eagle, the border security and asylum minister, joins the team for an hour at one of Bristol’sretail parks, scattered with fast food chains and, therefore, delivery bikes.
Image: Border security and asylum minister, Angela Eagle, speaks to Sky News
She says arrests for illegal working are up over the last year by 51% from the year before, to more than 7,000.
“If we find you working, you can lose access to the hotel or the support you have [been] given under false pretences,” she said.
“We are cracking down on that abuse, and we intend to keep doing so.”
There are reports that asylum seekers can rent legitimate delivery-driver accounts within hours of arriving in the country – skipping employment legality checks.
Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all told Sky News they’re continuing to strengthen the technology they use to remove anyone working illegally.
But a new Border Security Bill, working its way through Parliament, could see companies fined £60,000 for each illegal worker discovered, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
“I had them all in to see me last week and I told them in no uncertain terms that we take a very tough line on this kind of abuse and they’ve got to change their systems so they can drive it out and off their platforms,” the minister tells me.
For some of those who arrive, a bike and a phone provide a way to repay debts to gang masters.
There were eight arrests today in Bristol, one or two taken into custody, but it was 12 hours of hard work by a dozen immigration officers and the support of the police.
As two mopeds are pushed onto a low-loader, you can’t help but feel, despite the best intentions, that at the moment, this is a losing battle.
The officers who confronted the Southport killer have described, for the first time publicly, how they disarmed him – as they joined a list of 70 officers nominated for a police bravery award.
Sergeant Greg Gillespie, 42, PC Luke Holden, 31, and PCSO Tim Parry, 32, were the first to arrive as Axel Rudakubana rampaged with a knife through a holiday dance school last summer.
Speaking to Sky Newsabout what they saw when arriving at the scene, Sgt Gillespie said: “There was maybe 20 or 25 adults and all of them were looking at me, all of them have this look of terror and fear, panic on their faces and I knew whatever it was we were turning up to was really, really bad.”
His colleagues drove fast from Southport police station and were thirty seconds or so behind Sgt Gillespie.
Image: PC Luke Holden (left), PCSO Tim Parry (centre), Sgt Greg Gillespie (right) nominated for the police bravery awards
PC Holden said he saw “a large puddle of blood on the floor outside the door” and said Sgt Gillespie “just looked at me” and asked if he was ready.
“That was it, there was no conversation. There was nothing else going on. He said, ‘Are you ready?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s go’.”
PCSO Parry, who doesn’t carry a baton or pepper spray like his colleagues, went to the back of the building to stop people from entering, help anyone who needed it, and get information on the number of suspects inside.
He said: “It was a horrific scene to really go into because I was so unprepared with the equipment I had.”
Sgt Gillespie and PC Holden identified the suspect at the top of the stairs, a bloodied knife in his hand, and walked towards him shoulder to shoulder.
“I saw him, made eye contact with him, saw his facial expression, saw his body language and the way he moved himself into a position at the top of the stairs, showing us he had a knife,” Sgt Gillespie said.
“He was fronting us, like he was saying, ‘I’ve got a knife, what are you going to do about it?’
“And I think the second he realised he was looking at two people who weren’t scared of him, who were going to attack him, all that bravery that he must have summoned up to attack defenceless children, he lost that straightaway, and he threw down the knife.”
In January, Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the attack, admitted the murders of seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, aged six and Alice da Silva Aguiar, who was nine, as well 10 charges of attempted murder, as well as possessing terrorist material and production of the biological toxin, ricin.
Image: A machete was also found at Rudakubana’s home. Pic: Merseyside Police
Dozens nominated for bravery awards
The Merseyside trio are among 70 officers from around England and Wales who have been nominated for tonight’s Police Federation national bravery awards.
They include two sergeants from Sussex who swam to the rescue of a vulnerable teenager struggling to stay afloat at night off Brighton beach.
Image: Footage of Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings rescuing a woman from the sea in Brighton. Pic: Sussex police
Police with torches had located her in the sea fifty metres from the shore, but a lifeline they threw to her didn’t reach.
Sergeant Craig Lees said: “We could see that she was starting to struggle with the cold and tide, and she began to dip under the water. We knew we needed to do something, and that was that we needed to get into the water and swim out to her.”
His colleague and friend Sergeant Matthew Seekings said: “I don’t think it’s in the blood of any police officer to watch somebody at risk or somebody needing help and not do something.
“When you’re in the sea, it’s pitch black, you don’t even know where the bottom is, it’s terrifying, and I can only imagine how the female was feeling.”
Image: Sergeant Craig Lees and Sergeant Matthew Seekings who are nominated for a bravery award. Pic: Sussex police
Battling their own fatigue, the two officers managed to get the girl to shore, where colleagues and paramedics were waiting to take over.
In Devizes, Wiltshire, PC Nicola Crabbe was called to a town centre fight between two men, one of whom had a knife.
Image: PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police who is nominated for a police bravery award
‘Just saturated in blood’
“They were grappling, and they were just saturated in blood,” said PC Crabbe, who confronted the man she thought was the knifeman.
“I was in the middle of the road when I grabbed hold of him, and there was a member of the public just there, and that’s when he explained to me that I had the wrong person.”
Image: CCTV image of PC Nicola Crabbe from Wiltshire police dealing with a fight in Devizes. Pic: Wiltshire police
Armed only with a baton and Pava pepper spray, she grappled with the suspect, trying to find his knife.
She said: “At one point he grabbed my hair and kind of dragged me around a bit, so I Pava’d him which just had no effect at all.”
PC Crabbe managed to restrain the knifeman until colleagues arrived and arrested him.
The full list of award winners will be announced on Thursday night during a dinner at a west London hotel.
A group of Labour MPs has urged Sir Keir Starmer to do more to tackle the rising cost of living amid fears the party could lose the next election to Reform.
The MPs are launching a new splinter group, the living standards coalition, to shift the focus to everyday concerns such as food, energy bills and housing.
In a letter to the prime minister, the group’s members warned that one question would be on the mind of voters at the next election: “Did this Labour government make me better off?”
“After 14 years of living in a no-growth economy and with some of the highest bills in Europe, our constituents are struggling to make ends meet,” they said.
“More of them are turning away from democracy and towards populism as they can’t afford a decent life.”
The coalition is the latest splinter group to form since the party’s landslide election victory a year ago.
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Other groups include the Labour growth group, which focuses on delivering economic growth, and MPs in Red Wall constituencies in the North who are alive to the threat Reform poses in their seats.
While the MPs stress they are supportive of the actions the government has taken so far, the forming of a new group could be interpreted as a sign of restlessness in the parliamentary party, especially given the fallout of last week’s botched welfare vote.
In the letter, first reported by The Guardian, the MPs write: “We are here to support your efforts to go further and faster on raising living standards. We come from every corner of our party.
“To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.
“We welcome interventions that will raise incomes. We welcome investment in labour- intensive building, education, and healthcare jobs that will raise living standards through employment. We welcome the Employment Rights Bill that will get wages rising.”
They added: “We know that some will try to stop us raising living standards.
“They will try to block us from building the affordable housing and windfarms we need to get bills down. They oppose the way we have raised revenue from the very wealthiest to invest in childcare and our NHS.
“We are glad you are keeping this government’s focus on raising living standards. We stand in support of you. It is the most important issue to our constituents and the country.”