‘I thought I was going to die’ – mum’s tale of abuse at hands of brute

A COURAGEOUS domestic abuse survivor has shared a harrowing clip of her violent boyfriend threatening to behead her and bury her body in a garden.

The distressing 36-minute audio recording, in which brutal William Morton can be heard to spit at and slap Jodie Tague, was vital evidence in securing a conviction following months of abuse.

The 30-year-old golf club worker can be heard threatening to “rip [her] throat out” before chillingly adding: “You could bleed to death, Jo.”

Morton became one of the first people in Wales ever to be convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour after businessowner Jodie bravely went to the police to report him.

The new law was introduced in 2015 and relates to people who repeatedly behave in a way to make someone they are closely connected with feel controlled, dependent, isolated or scared.

It can be hard to achieve convictions because it often happens behind closed doors.

Fearing for her life, Jodie, also 30, secretly built up evidence of the abuse, which eventually led to Morton receiving a jail term.

She has spoken out to let other people in her position know there is a way out. She also wants people in authority to know the warning signs and be able to spot them and help women in need.

Jodie, who has run her own gift shop for almost a decade, first met Morton in March last year several months after the pair began chatting through Tinder.

Having taken part in a workshop to spot abuse at domestic violence charity Atal y Fro, Jodie spotted the warning signs.

She said: “He would drink more or less every night. He was controlling with my friends, especially the male ones – he would not like me talking to them. He would message me asking why I was talking to someone – it might just be a text from a delivery driver.

“I had to stop talking to certain people. When that happened I stood my ground at the start. I would say that they were my friends and ‘I wouldn’t be with you if I wanted to be with someone else.’

“There was nothing going on but in his head. I don’t know how he thought I had the time because I was working 24/7.”

At one point Jodie, of Barry, used her phone to secretly record abuse taking place.

“I had gone out for my friend’s birthday – it was a family meal. I had only had two Diet Cokes – it wasn’t a big party.

“I came back and he had obviously been drinking. I could tell he was agitated straight away. He was on edge.

“I said I was going to go out and let him calm down. He had me up against the wall in the hallway by the throat. And I managed to get out and take my dog because I didn’t want to leave it with him.

“He texted me saying that he had calmed down now, so I went back.”

Jodie did not feel like she could go to the police because it would have been her word against his. Despite returning to the house in Barry, she wanted to protect herself. She said: “I left the dog in the car because I knew what it could be like. I could see the signs but I couldn’t just stay out all night.

“I had to go back at some point, I didn’t want to go to the police because I would have had nothing to show. Before I went back in, I put my phone in my pocket and put it on the voice recorder. I thought that if he had calmed down like he said I could just turn it off.

“I wouldn’t say anything because it was going to trigger him to kick off. But he hadn’t calmed down. I had it in my pocket.”

What followed was a truly horrific 36 minutes where Morton can be heard forcing her to sit in a chair in the living room. He spat on her as well as repeatedly hitting her.

“I just couldn’t move,” she said. “I kept telling him to stop hitting me. He was getting upset at himself and was crying but he just carried on. I told him to stop because I was bleeding from the mouth. He just said, ‘I am going to make you bleed more’ and ‘I am going to bury you.’”

The recording, and Jodie’s courage in obtaining it, proved decisive when the case came to court.

“He was good at putting on a face to everyone else,” she said. “You listen to that and he was different to how others would see him. To hear it is totally different. I could say that he said he was going to