Top crime tsar: My two years of hell at hands of a violent lover
SHE is among the most powerf u l women in British policing, overseeing one of the country’s biggest forces.
But behind closed doors, crime tsar Alison Hernandez has privately been recovering from the ordeal of an abusive relationship that lasted more than two years.
Her job as Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall made her reluctant to seek help to bring her ex-boyfriend Gill Winfield to justice.
But now, with Winfield awaiting sentence for assault and stalking, she is speaking out in a bid to help other women in her position.
Speaking exclusively t o The Mail on Sunday, Ms Hernandez said: ‘ The police were the last people I wanted to speak to and I think he knew that and that’s why he persisted.
‘Being in a position of power in my working life but then being so powerless in my personal life is a dichotomy in itself. I like to feel in control.’
The commissioner, 44, who has a young daughter from a previous marriage, met chartered surveyor Winfield in 2015, a few months before she was elected to her £85,000-a-year post.
She s ai d t he warning s i gns were there from the start and his jealousy left her ‘walking on eggshells constantly’.
‘The first time Gill hit me, we were away in Italy,’ Ms Hernandez recalled. ‘He threw a hot cup of tea at my head and it narrowly missed me. It smashed against the wall and went all over the floor.
‘We were arguing because I said I wanted to go home early. I wanted to end the relationship and he went absolutely crazy. He started shouting and yelling.
‘I remember locking myself in the toilet to get away from him and I called my friend, crying. What was I supposed to do? I felt trapped. I was on holiday with this man for another three days.’
After returning to the UK on an earlier- than- planned flight, Ms Hernandez made her first attempt to end the relationship but the smooth-talking Winfield convinced her to stay with him.
She said: ‘ I tried to leave him around six times but he would talk me round. He would turn up at my house with gifts or send messages and cards.’
As their rows escalated, Winfield became more violent and the ‘final straw’ came earlier this year when he hit Ms Hernandez in the face. She recalled: ‘We were driving to Lidl to get some food for dinner and we argued the whole way there.
‘When we parked up, I said I didn’t want to go into the supermarket and asked him to take me home.
‘Then on the journey home, he suddenly hit me. I was completely silent, just sitting there. I didn’t see what happened as he hit me from the side. I thought to myself, “Has he really just hit me?”
‘ I punched him back i n selfdefence and I think I probably shouted and called him a wifebeater. I ran into the house and locked the door. He stayed outside and was t rying to t alk t o me through the letter box but I refused to speak to him. That’s how it ended with him.’
But she says Winfield, 48, would not take no for an answer and began making her life hell. He stalked her, and bombarded her with emails, texts and voicemail messages, begging her to reconsider.
He even ignored solicitor’s letters ordering him to leave her alone.
After confiding in a police chaplain at work, she finally found the courage to report his crimes.
Winfield was arrested and will be sentenced at Exeter Crown Court on Thursday after admitting two charges of assault and a further charge of stalking. He has also been suspended from practising as a chartered surveyor for 12 months.
Even so, the commissioner admits that her ordeal is not yet fully over. ‘I may need counselling to come to terms with this,’ she said.
‘The one question I need to iron out in my mind is why on earth did I stay with him for as long as I did? My message to anyone suffering is contact help as soon as you can. I feel very passionately that police intervention is really the only thing that can put a stop to it.’