Jailed, menacing husband who terrified ITV’s Ruth for 9 years
TV weather presenter Ruth Dodsworth’s husband stalked, abused and controlled her for nearly a decade of their marriage, leaving her terrified and “broken”, a court heard.
“Unrepentant, possessive bully”, Jonathan Wignall, 54, turned up at the ITV Wales studios where she worked, checked her phone and mail, and stopped her seeing friends and family.
He stood outside loos while she used them, made her request lunch money, and fitted a tracking device to her car.
The businessman’s abuse was also physical – he slapped her head to stop her falling asleep on one occasion. On another he pushed her, breaking three ribs.
Yesterday he was jailed for three years after admitting stalking and coercive and controlling behaviour.
In an emotional statement to Cardiff Crown Court, Ms Dodsworth, 45, who has two children with Wignall, said she had to portray a “happy, sunshine-like” personality on TV when she felt “anything but”.
Exhausting
Her weight dropped to seven stone, her hair fell out and she was left in debt. She said: “I have lived my life feeling nervous, frightened, and broken. Life with Jonathan was like walking on eggshells. His temper would turn in an instant.
“His regular alcohol abuse caused him to be verbally abusive and physically violent towards me. He became bitter and hostile to me over the years and his frequent outbursts of hatred to us all was exhausting.
“Home was often the last place I wanted to be. There was barely a day I did not leave for work in tears and arrive back fearful of what was waiting for me.”
She added: “My daily life became exhausting living in a constant state of anxiety and fear.”
Prosecutor Claire Pickthall earlier told the court the couple married in 2001 but their relationship worsened in 2010. Wignall accused her of infidelity and followed her on location.
In 2019 Ms Dodsworth went on a charity trek across Iceland but Wignall refused to let her go to Luton Airport with the rest of the group and drove her there instead.
He was arrested soon afterwards after calling her 150 times, leaving her too terrified to return to the family home in Cowbridge, South Wales.
When police said he was being held for harassment, Wignall replied: “Harassment? But she’s my wife.”
Judge DanielWilliams told him yesterday: “It’s clear you have no remorse. In your eyes you have done no wrong and you have no perception to how others may see you.
“You affect the air of a respectable beleaguered but successful businessman, but you are not.
“You are a fantasist with a fragile ego which makes you an unrepentant possessive bully.”