Jill never fully got over the attack. I don’t think that many people do
WIDOWER ON EALING RAPE VICTIM’S TORMENT
Grinning widely with a mischievous glint in her eye, Jill Saward giggled as she posed for the camera in a festive elf outfit. She was about to surprise an unhappy friend by bringing Christmas to her doorstep. Sadly, it was one of the last pictures taken of Jill.
Just a few weeks later, the mum of three died after suffering a stroke, aged 51.
For the first time since the rape campaigner’s death, her widower Gavin Drake has spoken about how his wife helped so many sex assault victims – but never got over the infamous Ealing Vicarage rape.
As he prepares to celebrates Jill’s life with a special memorial today, Gavin, 47, says: “It was always there, it was always something in the background. She lived a full life, a life full of joy, a healthy life. But it was always there. She never fully got over it. I don’t think many people do.”
In 1986, three men high on drugs broke into her dad’s vicarage in Ealing, West London. They beat Canon Michael Saward and David Kerr, Jill’s thenboyfriend, with cricket bats.
Two of the brutes, Martin McCall and Christopher Byrne, dragged Jill, then 21, upstairs and repeatedly raped her at knifepoint.
McCall was sentenced to five years’ jail for rape and five for burglary. Byrne got three years for rape, and five for burglary and assault.
Jill remained terrified of them and fled to America for three weeks when her most vicious attacker, drug addict
McCall, got out in 1992. Jill only referred to the gang as Man 1 – ringleader Robert Horscroft, who got 14 years for burglary and assault – Man 2 (McCall) and Man 3 (Byrne) as a way of demeaning them.
Gavin, who lives in Cannock, Staffs, says: “Man 2 knew where she lived, and police told her she should install panic alarms in the house. She was still fearful of a retaliatory attack.
“She thought he would kill her. We ended up moving house. She never wanted to live her life as a recluse but, of course, it still affected her.
“She said the reason all our boys were born by caesarean, with our first son Myles being a 46-hour, difficult labour by emergency caesarean, was because of a psychological blockage.
“She felt there were physical manifestations of rape, as well as mental.” Yet brave Jill was the first person to waive their right to anonymity and speak out against sex assault. Her campaigning changed the law, making it illegal to reveal the identity of rape victims before a charge, and she set up a charity to educate jurors on myths about complainants in sex cases.
She even met with Horscroft in 1998. She told him he didn’t need to apologise as “he was not the one who hurt her”.
Gavin, who wants to set up a charitable foundation, says: “Jill said talking about rape was like falling off a bike – you fall off and it hurts, you fall off again and it hurts, but eventually you’re able to ride without falling off.
“She was always billed as the Ealing Vicarage rape victim… but she was also the survivor of the attack. But you can’t survive something unless you’re at first a victim.
“While it’s important to get to the stage of saying, ‘I am a survivor’, it’s important to recognise a lot of victims are not at that stage.”
He adds: “So much change has been brought about by Jill’s work, but the way victims are treated is still appalling. There is still so much under-funding from Government for sex assault services.”
Jill and Gavin met in 1992, at the Greenbelt Christian festival in Northamptonshire. Gavin says: “As soon as I saw her I thought, ‘I am going to marry you’. Her eyes were so warm and open, and she had this mischievous smile.”
On their 24th wedding anniversary in June, Gavin held a barbecue with friends to celebrate Jill’s life.
Her legacy has also been a huge part of their three children’s upbringing – Myles, 23, Rory, 21, and Fergus, 19.
Gavin says: “I took them all out individually when they each turned 11 to explain why mum was on the TV and radio and in newspapers.”
Today, months after Jill’s death on January 5, her life will be commemorated at the service at Eglwys Dewi Sant in Nefyn, Gwynedd, North Wales.
Gavin will then scatter her ashes in the sea off Nefyn Beach, as per Jill’s wishes. She had taken part in an annual Christian beach mission there for decades, starting in her late teens.
Gavin, a writer for Christian publications, says: “The people of Nefyn took Jill to their heart after the attack. She visited several times a year and was always made welcome by locals.
“It was in the town that Jill felt that she could be ‘just Jill’. She loved the people of Nefyn and they loved her back.” And bringing joy to others is the family’s enduring memory of Jill.
Recalling the snap he took of her in the elf suit, Gavin says: “Her friend was struggling because she previously had bad experiences at Christmas.
“Jill got together a hamper, some gifts and a mini Christmas tree with lights, and told her friend she had sent her a present in the post and she would have to be in at a certain time.
“I drove her to her friend’s house, about 50 miles away, and she turned up at her friend’s doorstep in an elf costume, to deliver her friend Christmas. Jill would always try to bring joy to people. That’s what we’ll remember.”
Jill brought about much change, but victims are still treated appallingly GAVIN ON CAMPAIGNING TO HELP RAPE VICTIMS