Terrorist beat wife, kicked her, locked her in if she drank
London Bridge terrorist Rachid Redouane was a wife-beating maniac who “imprisoned” his British partner and demanded she wore a hijab.
The evil butcher, 30, punched and slapped Charisse O’Leary in the face, kicked her in the stomach, and locked her in the house if she had a glass of wine or a cigarette.
He would attack her in the street if she answered him back and he tried to ban her from eating anything other than halal food.
A friend of Charisse, 38, said: “We’d try to arrange to meet for coffee but she would call and say, ‘I can’t’.
“It would either be, ‘he’s slapped me in the middle of the street today’ or ‘he’s kicked me’ or ‘he will not let me out the house’.
“He did not want her to drink or smoke – he wanted her to wear a hijab. He wanted a traditional Muslim wife, and Charisse was not that.
“She was fun, sociable, liked a drink, liked to smoke.
“She’s blonde, a typical Western girl. If she would drink a glass of wine, he would throw the bottle at the wall.
“She suddenly started telling me about all the violence.
“She was scared, really scared. It was harsh domestic violence.”
Charisse, a carer, told her friend: “I feel like I’m in prison. He says I can’t eat normal food, just halal... feel like I gave up everything in the UK for nothing.”
In another message, she said: “He kicked me last night because I swore at him.
“And Monday he slapped my face.”
Charisse, mother to Redouane’s 18-monthold daughter, met him in London in 2010 before they got married in Dublin in 2012. They had a traditional Islamic wedding followed by a civic ceremony at a register office.
The newlyweds lived in a flat in the city, just 100 yards from a large military barracks, which is home to the Irish Army’s 2 Brigade.
But Redouane soon moved back to his home country of Morocco, where he stayed for 17 months and became
I feel like I’m in prison… he says I can’t eat normal food, just halal CHARISSE O’LEARY COMPLAINS TO FRIEND
radicalised. On his return to Dublin, Charisse revealed his Islamic views had become “extreme”.
At the same time, Irish police believe Charisse may have started using the Arabic first name of Sherifa. Redouane, who worked as a pastry chef, also used the surname Elkhdar and is believed to have been known as Rachid Almagrabi, which translates as Rachid the Moroccan.
In April 2015 Charisse told friends: “He has ruined my life and made me so ill and depressed.” But his longsuffering partner stayed with him and that same year they left their rented bedsit in the Irish capital. They told their landlord they were expecting a child, and moved to England.
The friend said: “His aim was always to get back to the UK – that’s why he had an Irish Residence card.
“She didn’t earn enough money to bring him to the UK on a spouse visa.
“So he went the Irish route and moved to England under EU free movement rules.”
After his marriage, he was given a Garda National Immigration Bureau ID card, allowing him to travel to the UK. Ireland has a common travel area with Britain that allows the freedom of movement within the two countries as well as the rights to reside, work and access public services.
By September 2015 the couple were back in the UK, with the killer having been told he could stay for five years. Mosques in Dublin say they have no record of Redouane ever worshipping with them during his time in the city.
Summayah Kenna, who handles press for the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, said yesterday that police had been in touch early on Sunday. She added: “We got a call from the Gardai. They informed us one of the [attackers] had been carrying Irish ID and that he was Rachid Redouane, although it was possible it was an alias or a false name of some kind.
“We immediately started out own investigation within the community.
“We saw the photograph last night [Monday] and made further inquiries as to whether anyone recognised him but nobody seems to know him.”
A Moroccan at the centre, who did not want to be named, said there were few of his countrymen in Dublin.
He added: “There are not a lot of us and we all know each other. We all
help each other out and no body knows him.” Police believe jihadis based in Ireland are travelling into the UK by exploiting the soft border with Northern Ireland.
A Gardai source said: “Once they have Irish residency they are free to travel in the common travel area.”
Charisse was one of seven women arrested after Saturday’s bloodbath.
She was heard screaming “don’t shoot” as police raided her East London address. Neighbours said she was bloodied and injured as police stormed in and took her away. She was later released without charge.