RUTH Dodsworth has revealed that she’s finally able to “genuinely smile” after suffering nine years of hell with her abusive ex-husband.
She told the TV documentary that she’s staying positive after Jonathan Wignall, 55, was caged for three years after subjecting her to controlling abuse during their 18-year marriage.
Speaking on her documentary Controlled by My Partner? The Hidden Abuse, Ruth tonight said: “I can’t pretend I’m not scared, but I’m trying to stay positive.
“My smiles are genuine now.”
She spoke to other survivors of coercive control – as well as family members of women who had tragically been killed by controlling men.
And viewers across the country have come together to praise her for her bravery, with one writing: “Very brave of Ruth Dodsworth to speak out about this.”
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Another viewer said: “Shocking to see someone we’d have seen on TV being a victim to coercive control but just goes to show that ANYONE can be a victim of it.
“If you’re watching this and feeling like something isn’t right, it probably isn’t. Please seek help.”
A third said: “Good to see you on the box this evening Ruth.
“Must have taken a lot of courage to get involved in the story. Good to hear too that times are happier ones for you now.”
It comes after dramatic attest footage revealed the moment Ruth’s ex was put in the back of a police van for his coercive behaviour.
Ruth’s ex Jonathan Wignall screamed: “Let me speak to her. Ruth!” as he was bundled into the back of a police van near her South Wales home.
He was confronted hours after Ruth’s children messaged her warning: “If you come home, he’s going to kill you.”
Two young male officers can be seen approaching Wignall, 55, in footage captured on their body-worn video cameras.
One asks: “What’s happened last night, mate?”
Wignall replied: “What do you mean?”
The PC said: “Well, she’s called us this morning saying that you were quite persistent on the phone last night.”
The abuser replied: “She’s my wife”, leading the officer to say: “I know, but 200 times? You’re going to have to be arrested, mate.”
As the officers cuffed him and led him to the van, Wignall shouted: “Let me speak to her.
“Ruth, Ruth!”
Wignall, who was in a relationship with the ITV Wales presenter for 20 years, was later jailed after pleading guilty to coercive behaviour and stalking last year.
He was also was handed a lifetime restraining order.
But Ruth has told of her fears as he’ll soon be released at the half-way mark of his sentence.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain today, she said the clip of Wignall’s arrest show how “violent and volatile” he was.
“In the run up to that particular event, that arrest, I would say that his behaviour had escalated to a point where it was hundreds and hundreds of phone calls a day, constant text messages – ‘Where are you, what are you doing, who are you with?'” she said.
“His response there was ‘She’s my wife’. That really was the key to all of it.
“I was his wife, I was his possession – in a sense that gave him the right to do pretty much what he wanted and treat me the way he wanted.”
Shortly before his arrest, Ruth’s children begged her not to return home as they feared he’d hurt her.
“He had been effectively on an alcohol-fuelled rampage for about 24 hours,” Ruth said.
“I knew the children were safe, my mum and dad were around the corner and they could get out, but they were texting and ringing saying ‘Please mum, don’t come home’.”
She said she’s “very scared” of what will happen when he’s free.
“To the best of my knowledge, he’s shown no remorse,” she said.
“A restraining order is a bit of paper, a tag doesn’t really matter. Has he learned? Is he really going to change?”
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But she urged other victims to come forward, and praised the police who helped her.
“Those two young male officers in that moment arrested him and by doing that they saved my life, they saved my children, and they saved my family,” she said.
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service available from 10am to noon.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
