A woman who was raped and repeatedly strangled by her abusive boyfriend secretly recorded him trying to blame her for the injuries he had caused.
Suzie Mahe, from Jersey, feared that Gavin Roberts’ escalating violence could end up killing her and was worried nobody would believe her. So she began documenting his abusive behavior.
The mum-of-one has since helped secure landmark changes to Jersey’s domestic abuse laws.
Roberts, 47, subjected the 31-year-old to repeated and sustained assaults after they met on a dating app in July 2022.
The abuse included attacks that left Suzie unconscious, struggling to breathe and requiring extensive speech therapy to help regain her voice.
One attack happened outside a nightclub in October 2022, where Roberts grabbed her by the neck, pinned her against a wall and punched her multiple in the head while continuing to hold her.
Her eyelashes were torn off and an earring was broken and pulled from her ear. Suzie said: ‘It left physical marks on my neck. The attack felt like it took forever.’
The most serious abuse happened during a trip away, when Roberts subjected her to a prolonged and devastating ordeal at a hotel. She was raped, strangled and penetrated with toys without her consent.
Suzie suffered bruising to her nose, eyes, chin, arms and legs.
Roberts later tried to persuade her that she had caused the injuries herself by falling in a lift and the bedroom.
This Is Not Right
On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.
With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to shine a light on the sheer scale of this national emergency.
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She recalled: ‘It was a long-winded attack that went through the night of physical punching, once again strangling and then leading to rape and using toys on me without my permission.
‘I felt like my body went into a protective way, and it blacked out a lot of things for me, but I still remember him stripping me naked. When you’re so far away from home, you’re quite vulnerable.’
Back in Jersey, Suzie began using her phone to capture evidence. In one recording, Roberts can be heard approaching the bedroom and losing his temper because she was ‘supposed to be downstairs’.
He swore at her, told her to ‘f*** off’ and called her a ‘c***’. Shortly afterwards, Roberts strangled her so severely that she vomited.
Another recording captured an argument about the abuse during their trip. When Suzie asked why Roberts had hit her, he replied: ‘Because you keep being a d***.’
Roberts also accused her of having ‘an attitude’ and told her: ‘Maybe if you behaved yourself, that wouldn’t happen.’ He was subsequently arrested following the attack.
Suzie said Roberts appeared to take pleasure in examining the damage he had caused.
She recalled: ‘He was proud anytime that he hurt me, it was really bizarre that he was so proud of what he had done, and achieved. He would look around your body at your injuries and almost enjoy it.’
Suzie began collecting evidence after learning about Clare’s Law, which allows people to ask police what information they hold about someone in relation to domestic abuse offenses and convictions.
She feared she could die without anybody knowing what Roberts had done.
She said: ‘I was really worried no one would believe me, so after I was told about Clare’s Law, I started documenting injuries, and I did manage to record a few videos of his behavior.
‘I felt that at the time, either I was going to die and no one would know what had happened to me, or I wouldn’t have been believed.’
The repeated strangulation caused vocal cord dysfunction and breathing problems, which led to Suzie being diagnosed with asthma despite never previously having the condition.
She underwent extensive speech therapy to recover her voice.
What to do if you’re experiencing domestic abuse
If you are experiencing domestic abuse, you are not alone. And whether you are currently coping with or have made the decision to leave, you do have options.
In an emergency situation, ring 999 and ask for the police. If you aren’t able to talk, try the Silent Solution: after dialling 999, listen to the questions from the operator and respond by coughing or tapping your device, if possible. If prompted, press 55 to let the operator know it’s an emergency – you’ll be put through to the police.
If you are thinking about leaving, domestic abuse charity Refuge suggests starting a record of abusive incidents, which might include saving pictures or messages, or making notes of times, dates and details of incidents.
The next step is to make copies of important documents such as court orders, marriage certificates, National Insurance Numbers and your driving license.
In the meantime, identify the safer areas of your home so that you know where to go if your abuser becomes aggravated. Ideally, this should be a room with a phone and a door or window to the outside.
If you feel ready to leave, start by making a plan for a safe, reliable route out. If you feel safe to do so, pack an emergency bag so that you leave in a hurry if needed.
You can access a local refuge, either with or without children, for as long as you need to stay. The address is confidential. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline (0808 2000 247) is open 24-hours a day and has all the details of refuges in your area.
Read more here.
Roberts, a former Jersey restaurant owner, was jailed for 15 years for 11 offenses. They included one count of rape, two of sexual penetration without consent, and three counts of grave and criminal assault.
A second woman came forward to report two assaults committed between February and September 2022.
Three voyeurism charges related to Roberts filming a third woman while they were having sex, with his offenses all taking place between 2018 and 2022.
After waiving her right to anonymity, Suzie campaigned for Jersey to introduce a standalone offense of non-fatal strangulation.
She said she was ‘devastated’ when strangulation was dealt with as criminal assault, adding: ‘I said, “It is attempted murder”.’
Jersey has also introduced emergency domestic abuse protection orders, allowing police to ban alleged abusers from contacting their accusers for 72 hours. Officers can then ask a court to extend an order.
Suzie additionally pushed for reforms allowing victims to read their own impact statements in court.
Women have since approached Suzie to say her decision to speak publicly encouraged them to report their own abuse.
She said: ‘I never would have thought waiving my anonymity would lead to such great things happening and change happening.’
Reflecting on the new strangulation offense, she added: ‘Helping secure that change has honestly meant more to me than his sentence. It means future victims will be better protected.’
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