The cost of freedom: Domestic abuse survivors forced to stay with abusers amid rising cost of living

Published

2 years ago

November 18, 2022

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It took seven years for Abigail to break free of her abusive relationship, but as the cost of living crisis deepens there are concerns others may not be able to break free.

More than three-quarters of domestic abuse survivors (77%) are finding it harder to escape these relationships, the charity Refuge has warned, as people are forced to choose between remaining with their abusive partner or risk destitution.

For almost a decade, Abigail (not her real name) was subjected to physical, mental, financial and sexual abuse – with the attacks becoming so violent on one occasion, she miscarried.

“The last resort for me was he drugged and violently raped me,” she told Sky News.

“And I think for me that was a wake-up call – because I could hardly walk. I just thought this person could kill me.”

But with her abuser’s name on the house, she was reliant on him financially and had to go to court to get him to take his name off the house.

“Simply put – I wouldn’t have been able to leave my abuser if this crisis was happening when I was trying to flee 10 years ago,” she said.

“I felt trapped as it was. One of the elements of abuse he used against me was financial. Alongside the physical and emotional abuse this economic abuse had a big impact when it came to leaving, he controlled everything.”

Abusers taking advantage of crisis

More than half of the frontline staff at Refuge said the cost of living crisis is leading survivors to return to their abusers.

Abigail’s partner would whisper in her ear: “He tried to tell me I was crazy. I couldn’t live without him.”

Refuge’s specialist technology-facilitated and economic empowerment team has seen an 87% increase in referrals for support with complex cases – they say this can be directly linked to the impact of the crisis.

The charity said it will need an additional £1m to address the growing costs of running its specialist services.

It warned perpetrators are also taking advantage of the cost of living crisis to increase economic abuse and control.

Some perpetrators restrict food and heating in an attempt to gain custody of children on the basis that survivors simply cannot afford to maintain a warm home and enough food.

Even seven years ago, setting out on her own was a struggle, said Abigail.

“At one point, I had £1.25 on my electric meter,” she said, adding that at one point she had to pay £1,500 in court costs towards the prosecution of her ex-partner.

He still owes Abigail thousands in child support.

As Christmas approaches, Abigail wants only the best for her four children – who were witnesses of the abuse – and has opened an Argos and Very account in a bid to afford presents.

“I have never had any credit cards before,” she said.

“I want to make sure my children have everything they want and need, but at the same time, I am already stressed when I think about how I am going to pay that off.”

Completely forgotten

One anonymous Refuge frontline worker said: “It feels like survivors of domestic abuse have been completely forgotten about in this crisis. I have clients whose financial situation is so difficult since fleeing that they are considering returning to their abuser.

“They are reliant on food and clothes banks, they have cancelled and cut back anything and everything they can, to be able to afford to pay their bills. This is having such a detrimental impact on survivors’ mental health and wellbeing.

“Some women are really worried about losing access to their children, they tell me that perpetrators are using this cost of living crisis to further their abuse, something we know as post-separation abuse.

“We are doing everything we can with the funding we have to support survivors – we are giving out more foodbank vouchers, more regularly and to more residents who are repeatedly requiring them, but this has led to foodbanks raising with us that they cannot repeatedly give out vouchers.”

Calls for emergency escape fund

Refuge has called on the government to create an Emergency Domestic Abuse Fund to help survivors flee their abusers. It welcomed the government uplifting benefits in line with inflation but implored it “not wait until next April to make this vital change”.

Ruth Davison, the charity’s CEO, said: “Survivors and their children are struggling now, and they need urgent action to weather the storm of price increases this winter. No one should be left choosing between ongoing abuse and violence or poverty and hunger.

“The reality is that nothing has changed for women and children experiencing domestic abuse in the autumn statement.”

The fund, she added, would ensure “no woman has to choose between financial stability and her physical safety”.

Some 94% of emotional abusers escape conviction, according to Home Office data – despite the fact incidents of controlling and coercive behaviour are on the rise.

The average cost of a divorce in the UK – including legal fees and lifestyle changes, such as needing to find new accommodation – is £14,561, a devastatingly high amount for people who may not have access to their own money.

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Figures from Surviving Economic Abuse and Money Advice Plus found 67% of survivors are already in a negative budget or have less than £100 surplus at the end of the month. They also have an average individual debt of £20,000 – six times more than in 2020, and it’s expected to get worse.

Shanika Hayes, a senior associate at Stowe Family Law, told Sky News: “They may not have their own employment, and even if they find themselves in a situation where they can leave and have their own source of income, their confidence is normally at the point where they feel like they are not worthy of that, or are not able to sustain that.”

For both men and women, the crisis is placing a strain on relationships that can see them edge into abuse.

“Financial issues can be a catalyst to abuse and it’s often the case that this is the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Ms Hayes.

“Financial worries, whether that’s how they pay bills or increases to cost of living, that can worsen a relationship that is already abusive, or push one into that territory.”

Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline can be reached on 0808 2000 247, available 24 hours a day 7 days a week for free, confidential specialist support.

UK

Peter Sullivan who has spent 38 years in jail for murder has conviction quashed

Published

12 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Peter Sullivan who has spent 38 years in jail for murder has conviction quashed

A man who has spent 38 years in prison for murder has had his conviction quashed – but insisted he is “not angry” or “bitter”.

The Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Peter Sullivan ends what’s thought to be the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history.

He was found guilty of the 1986 murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall, who had been beaten, raped and left in an alleyway in Bebington, Merseyside.

Mr Sullivan – who was jailed in 1987 – had always maintained his innocence and first tried to challenge his conviction in 2016, but the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) declined to refer the case, and he lost his own appeal bid in 2019.

Two years later, he again asked the CCRC to refer his case and new tests, ordered by the commission, revealed Mr Sullivan’s DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.

At a hearing on Tuesday, lawyers for Mr Sullivan told the Court of Appeal in London that the new evidence showed that Ms Sindall’s killer “was not the defendant”.

Mr Sullivan attended the hearing via video link from HMP Wakefield, listening to his conviction being quashed with his head down and arms folded before appearing to weep and putting his hand to his mouth.

A relative in court also wept as the judgment was read out.

‘The truth shall set you free’

In a statement following the ruling, Mr Sullivan – now 68 – said: “I lost my liberty four decades ago over a crime I did not commit.

“What happened to me was very wrong, but does not detract that what happened… was a heinous and most terrible loss of life.”

He added: “It is said the truth shall set you free. It is unfortunate that it does not give a timescale as we advance towards resolving the wrongs done to me.

“I am not angry, I am not bitter.

“I am simply anxious to return to my loved ones and family as I’ve got to make the most of what is left of the existence I am granted in this world.”

Outside court, Mr Sullivan’s sister Kim Smith said she was “ecstatic” at seeing her brother’s conviction quashed.

She told reporters: “We lost Peter for 39 years and at the end of the day, it’s not just us; Peter hasn’t won, and neither has the Sindall family. They’ve lost their daughter, they are not going to get her back.

“We’ve got Peter back and now we’ve got to try and build a life around him again. We feel sorry for the Sindalls and it’s such a shame this has had to happen in the first place.”

Barristers for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the DNA evidence was “sufficient fundamentally to cast doubt on the safety of the conviction” and that there was “no credible basis on which the appeal can be opposed”.

Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Bryan, said in light of the new DNA evidence “it is impossible to regard the appellant’s conviction as safe” as he quashed the conviction.

Hunt for DNA match

Merseyside Police has confirmed detectives are now “carrying out an extensive investigation in a bid to identify who the new DNA profile belongs to, as to date there is no match on the national DNA database”.

Detectives are also contacting individuals identified in the original investigation to request voluntary DNA samples.

That initial investigation was the largest in the force’s history and, for many officers, the “frenzied” nature of the attack made it the worst case they had ever encountered.

Ms Sindall, who was engaged to be married, had just left her shift as a part-time barmaid at a pub in Bebington when her small blue van ran out of petrol.

She was walking to an all-night garage when she was attacked.

Mr Sullivan, who was 29 at the time and described as a loner, initially denied the attack but later signed a confession.

Questions have since been raised about whether he had proper legal representation during police interviews. Evidence related to bite marks on Ms Sindall’s body, considered crucial at the trial, has also since been called into question.

At the time of Mr Sullivan’s trial in 1987, DNA technology was not available and subsequent requests for new tests had been refused.

‘Nobody felt safe’

On the grass verge close to where Ms Sindall’s body was found, a memorial stone has been placed in memory of her and “and all of our sisters who have been raped and murdered”.

Her murder sent a chill through the community and led to the creation of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre on Merseyside. “Nobody felt safe, it was a very scary time,” said the centre’s Jo Wood.

She says the uncertainty has resurfaced. “There’s someone out who killed Diane Sindall,” said solicitor Ms Myatt.

“The biggest fear we’ve got is of the unknown and now we’ve got an unknown. We don’t know who it might be. Who knows who this person is? Are we going to encounter him?

“We might have encountered him, we don’t know, we just know that he’s out there.”

Ms Sindall’s family told Sky News they did not want to comment on the case.

Mel John, landlord of the pub where Ms Sindall worked on the night of her death, said: “I’m glad he’s being released if he’s innocent. It has been a long time.”

Mr Sullivan is also aware, his solicitor says, of the impact on Ms Sindall’s family.

“We are very sensitive and respectful to the fact that there is a victim, Diane Sindall and her family, that will be affected by this process,” the solicitor said.

UK

Tory MP Patrick Spencer charged with sexual assaults at Groucho Club

Published

12 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Tory MP Patrick Spencer charged with sexual assaults at Groucho Club

Tory MP Patrick Spencer has been charged with two counts of sexual assault at London’s Groucho Club.

The charges follow two alleged incidents involving two different women at the private members’ club, in Soho, in August 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

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Mr Spencer – who is the Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich – will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday 16 June.

A Conservative Party spokesman said Mr Spencer, 37, has been suspended by the Tories and had the whip withdrawn.

The Metropolitan Police said he was charged after attending a voluntary interview at a London police station on 13 March this year.

Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: “Following a review of the evidence provided by the Metropolitan Police Service, we have authorised two counts of sexual assault against Patrick Spencer MP.

“The charges follow two alleged incidents involving two separate women at the Groucho Club in central London in August 2023.

“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial.

“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”

Mr Spencer was first elected to Parliament last year with a majority of 4,290.

It is understood he was asked not to attend the parliamentary estate by the Tory chief whip while police enquiries were ongoing.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “The Conservative Party believes in integrity and high standards. We have taken immediate action.

“Patrick Spencer MP has been suspended from the Conservative Party, and the whip withdrawn, with immediate effect.

“The Conservative Party cannot comment further on an ongoing legal case.”

The Groucho Club, in Dean Street, opened in 1985 and became a renowned meeting place for A-list celebrities and others, including actors, comedians and media executives.

The club was named after the comedian and actor Groucho Marx, who reportedly once said he would refuse to join any club that would have him as a member.

It was originally set up as a more relaxed alternative to traditional gentlemen’s clubs, according to the venue’s website, which adds that members should be in the creative industry “and share the club’s maverick spirit”.

Before becoming an MP, Mr Spencer worked in finance for private equity firm IPGL, a company chaired by his father, former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Michael Spencer.

He later took a job at the Centre for Social Justice think thank before becoming a senior adviser at the Department for Education.

He made his maiden speech in the Commons in July last year during a debate on the MPs’ code of conduct relating to second jobs, during which he said the “most important thing to the people across my constituency” was “restoring a sense of moral probity and public spiritedness to our political system”.

Sky News has contacted Mr Spencer for comment.

UK

Man arrested over arson attacks after fire at Sir Keir Starmer’s house

Published

18 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Man arrested over arson attacks after fire at Sir Keir Starmer's house

A 21-year-old man has been arrested over a series of arson attacks, police have said, after a fire at a house owned by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, according to the Metropolitan Police.

He remains in custody.

Emergency services were called to fires at the doors of two homes in north London within 24 hours of each other – one just after 1.35am on Monday in Kentish Town and the other on Sunday in Islington. Both properties are linked to Sir Keir.

Detectives were also checking a vehicle fire last Thursday on the same street as the Kentish Town property to see whether it is connected.

Part of the area was cordoned off as police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) investigators examined the scene.

Neighbours described hearing a loud bang and said police officers were looking for a projectile.

The prime minister is understood to still own the home, which was damaged by fire on Monday, but nobody was hurt. Pictures showed scorching at the entrance to the property.

Sir Keir used to live there before he and his family moved into 10 Downing Street after Labour won last year’s general election. It is believed the property is being rented out.

In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to the prime minister.

In a statement, police said: “As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it. All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I can only say that the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So I can’t comment any further.”

Kemi Badenoch has condemned the suspected arson attacks.

Writing on X, the Conservative leader said: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the prime minister and his family. No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service.

“It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Tuesday: “It’s important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected.

“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”