Domestic abuse survivor beaten with hammer and forced to eat photos of dead relatives

A survivor of horrific domestic abuse has told how her boyfriend would force her to eat photographs of her dead relatives before beating her black and blue. In 2013 Craig Thomas, then 33, was jailed for 10 years following what a judge described as ‘one of the worst cases of domestic abuse’ he had ever seen. Charlotte Rooks, now 34, was subjected to a sustained period of torture, in which she would be beaten with hammers, made to sleep naked standing up, and violently abused so brutally that she needed major reconstructive surgery.

She has now spoke publicly for the first time about what she went through at the hands of Thomas. ‘We met two years before this happened. I thought he was amazing. I was with someone else and it wasn’t great and we used to talk all the time. He always used to sound so caring. He told me he had a flat and if I ever needed time alone I could go there. Charlotte was going through a tough time after a fire at her home, she moved into a new house with her son, who was then 13, and didn’t even have furniture.

Thomas was supportive, telling her he would cancel jobs painting and decorating to look after her. However the relationship quickly turned violent as Thomas spent long periods of time in Charlotte’s home.

‘It got to the point where I said he had to go back to his own place because I have to go to work to be able to buy beds and furniture. ‘We argued and he punched me in the face. I remember actually apologising to him because I didn’t know what I had done to make him so angry. She worried he thought her ungrateful after he sacrificed work to be with her.

Charlotte discovered that she was pregnant early into the relationship, which seemed to act as a catalyst for Thomas’ escalating behaviour. She said: ‘I had to sleep standing up – then if I was falling asleep he would throw stuff at me. When my foster mum died he made me eat her pictures. I was given a ring that was something sentimental that been left to me and he made me eat that as well.

Charlotte says he used to hit her in the stomach while he was pregnant. It got so bad that she used to look forward to the beatings he gave her in the car, in the hope somebody would see. Fear for her loved ones that kept her from leaving initially, he prevented her from going to work so her electricity was cut off when she couldn’t pay her bills. Once, when she tried to leave, he held up her dog and threatened to kill it in front of her. By sharing this story Charlotte, who still has panic alarms fitted at her house, wants some good to come out of her horror. She said: ‘I feel like something good has got to come out of this. It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got or what colour you are, if they’re going to batter you they are going to batter you and you need to get support. ‘Stereotypically you think it might happen to a certain person but it could happen to anyone.’