Craig Thomas
| “ | I'll either give you bleach or you can put a bag over your head. | „ |
| ~ Thomas giving Charlotte Rooks choices on how to die. |
Craig Paul Thomas is a Welsh man convicted for the domestic abuse and psychological torture of his pregnant girlfriend Charlotte Rooks.
Abuse edit
While living with Charlotte, Thomas began slowly gaslighting her into becoming submissive to him and banned her from going to work. When Charlotte told him she needed to go to work, Thomas punched her in the face, marking the beginning of a campaign of physical abuse. When Charlotte became pregnant, Thomas repeatedly attempted to kill the foetus, often hitting her in the stomach with the metal part of a vacuum cleaner, and threatened to kill her son if she carried the pregnancy to term. He also punished her for getting pregnant by forcing her to stand up naked for entire nights, throwing things at her if she started falling asleep. When Charlotte's foster mother died, Thomas forced her to eat her photos and a ring she gave her that was of sentimental value. He also once hit her in the back of the head with a glass picture frame, cutting her head. Charlotte was ultimately evicted from her home as she was unable to pay the rent due to Thomas preventing her from working, forcing her to move in with him.
Once Charlotte was living with Thomas, the abuse got even worse, with Thomas regularly beating her with a hammer, cutting the back of her neck with a knife, burning her face with cigarettes and forcing her to urinate in a bucket. He would also tie her up and force her to lie on his tiled bedroom floor, cutting her with broken glass if she fell asleep. At one point, Charlotte was admitted to hospital for injuries inflicted by Thomas, but he forced her not to report it by threatening to kill her son if she did. The police once arrived at the flat and interviewed Thomas after a witness claimed he saw him beat Charlotte, but he told them she was pregnant and mentally ill and that he felt obliged to keep her. That night, Thomas forced Charlotte into a stress position on the sofa and repeatedly jumped up and down on her stomach in an attempt to kill her unborn child, stamping on her head if she moved.
The following day, Charlotte escaped from the house after Thomas was distracted when the police arrived again to interview him about a road accident. She was ultimately found by the police after arriving at a garage and was admitted to hospital, undergoing reconstructive surgery. Thomas was arrested afterwards, and pleaded guilty to four counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of unlawful wounding, and one count of wounding with intent. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.