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Deadly match!

Simon was deadly determined to keep the spark in our relationship...


Published by: Amy Thompson and Sue Hardy
Published on: 1st June 2010

The Carpenters hit the nail on the head when they sang Breaking Up is Hard To Do. It’s certainly no easier as you get older, either.
Getting out of an adult relationship is so much more complicated. Kids, mortgages, joint assets… Suddenly, it’s not just the two of you that have to be split up.
That’s why, despite dumping my hubby Simon, 42, a week earlier, he was now kipping on my sofa.
We’d been together three years, and married just six months. At first, life had been great. We had loads in common, we both loved darts and karaoke.
And when he’d met my sons from a previous relationship, Andrew, seven, and Nathan, six, they’d loved him, too. Before long, we’d become a happy little family. The boys even called him Daddy.
But after we married, things had slowly started to go downhill.
Simon had become edgy and distant, and he started wildly accusing me of having affairs!
Soon, his paranoia had got too much.
Without trust, what was the point in carrying on?
So, I told him it was over and he’d moved out. The problem was, a few days later he lost his job and couldn’t afford his own place.
‘You can sleep on the sofa,’ I’d sighed. ‘But only until you find another job.’
I didn’t hate him, and he’d been a daddy to Andrew and Nathan these past few years, I couldn’t see him out on the street.
Stretching out in bed the next morning, I sat up as someone pushed my bedroom door open.
‘Thought I’d bring you a cuppa,’ Simon smiled, setting it down on my bedside table.
‘Oh, erm, thanks,’ I tried to smile back. Watching him walk out again, I took a sip of my tea, pleased he hadn’t stuck around. That was awkward…
Just as I put my cup down, he stormed back in the room, clutching my mobile phone.
‘I knew it!’ he seethed, throwing it at me. ‘I’ve read your text messages. You’re seeing someone!’
What was he on about? The only messages I had on there were from friends – just general chit-chat about how me and the boys were doing Hardly the stuff you say to your secret lover!
Still, I didn’t bother mentioning that to Simon. What right did he have to go snooping through my phone anyway? After all I’d done for him, this was how he repaid me.
‘Get out,’ I spat. ‘Find somewhere else to stay because you’re not stopping here.’
‘Fine,’ he seethed, slamming the bedroom door behind him.
Then I heard shouting. Simon was having a go at my kids!
I bombed into the living room – Andrew and Nathan looked terrified as Simon loomed over them. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I cried, stepping between them and grabbing the phone. ‘Get out now or I’m calling the police.’
Turning to see to the boys, I felt something heavy thud against my left ear, and I tumbled to the floor.
Suddenly, Simon was on top of me, pinning me down. His hands wrapped around my throat.
Can’t breathe…
‘Get off her,’ Andrew screamed, slapping at his legs and arms, frantically trying to beat off the man he’d called Daddy for the past three years. ‘Leave Mummy alone! You’re hurting her!’
Blood pounded in my ears. He’s going to kill me in front of my kids, I thought, panic rising.
I struggled against his weight, but no use. The phone! I still had the phone! I managed to punch in 999. One last shove… Yes! I pushed Simon off, as the operator answered my call.
‘Police!’ I gasped into the phone, grabbing the boys’ hands and dragging them outside.
Out in the street in our pyjamas, we stood waiting for the police to arrive. Blood dripped from my ear where Simon had punched me, and I could already feel bruises swelling on my legs.
He hadn’t followed us out, though – he must have thought better of it when he’d heard me on the phone to the police. They arrested him for attacking me, but later bailed him on the condition he didn’t try to contact me.
For a few days, I heard nothing from him. That was it, time for a clean break. I had to move on with my life, take the boys away to get over everything.
So, I took them to Skegness in Lincolnshire for a weekend rockabilly concert, and had a great time. There was sun, sea… and even a bit of romance!
Brian Tamplin and me got chatting at the concert. Sweet and caring, he knew exactly what I was going through, having split with his wife the year before.
‘If you ever need a friendly face just give me a call,’ he smiled warmly, as we swapped our mobile numbers.
When I got home, I did just that. Brian, 52, was exactly what I needed – a fresh start.
A few days later, my mobile bleeped. Brilliant, it must be Brian! No, it was Simon.
You’d better watch your back, his text read.
A shudder ran through me. Scared, I reported it to the police, but they just told me to keep a log of every message he sent. They’d need to build a case against him before he could be arrested again. I told Brian everything.
‘What if he hurts me again?’ I whispered.
‘He’s just angry, love,’ he reassured me. ‘He’ll soon get bored and leave you alone.’
I nodded, but still couldn’t rest easy. Especially when more messages arrived. They became more frequent – and sinister.
Then I got one text that really alarmed me.
You’ll pay for what you did to Simon, it said.
‘It’s from a mobile number I don’t recognise,’ I told Brian, my hands shaking as I showed him.
 ‘Is Simon trying to scare me by texting from a different number? Or has he roped others into hating me, too? Does he have someone watching me right now…?’
‘Don’t let him win,’ Brian replied. ‘Just carry on as normal.’
One lunchtime, I got a call at the pub from my neighbour.
‘Your Simon’s lurking around outside your house,’ she said.
‘I’m on my way,’ I gasped. Maybe, if I called the police when I got there, and they caught him creeping around, he’d finally be arrested, I thought.
By the time I got back though, he was nowhere to be seen. Damn!
Why wouldn’t Simon just leave me alone? He’d attacked me once, and now, with all these messages, and hanging round my house…what else was he capable of?
Brian moved in with me, which made me feel a bit safer.
The messages were now coming thick and fast, though. Every day brought a new text threat.
Tell you’re boyfriend to watch out, I read one day.
‘He must be spying on me!’ I fretted to Brian. ‘How else would he know about you?’
Over the next few weeks, I was constantly looking over my shoulder. Everywhere I went, I couldn’t shake the creepy feeling I was being watched.
‘You’re turning yourself into a nervous wreck,’ Brian worried. ‘Why don’t you go out and have some fun? It’s your sister’s birthday soon, have a night out. I’ll look after the boys.’
Bless him.
Spending the night out with my sis and her mates on her 40th was a laugh. At the end, I was shattered and crawled into bed at 1am. At least I could have a lay-in the next day.
But as soon as I’d dozed off, a panic-stricken voice filled my ears, and strong hands shook me urgently.
‘Dawn! Wake up! We have to get out now!’
My eyes crawled open, thick with sleep. What was going on?
Catching sight of the bedside clock, I groaned – 3am?! I’d only come in two hours ago.
‘Get up, love,’ Brian said again, desperately. ‘The house is on fire!’
‘The boys!’ I gasped. They were both asleep down the hallway.
‘It’s okay, I’ve got them here.’
Brian bundled two little figures on to the bed with me. ‘I’ve called the fire brigade, too.’
Grabbing the duvet, he stuffed it into the gap at the bottom of our bedroom door, choking on the thick black smoke seeping through.
Then he was on his feet again, pushing and shoving the handle on our window. But he couldn’t get it to budge.
‘It’s locked!’ he yelled over the cracking and snapping of furniture and glass, as flames tore through the house below us.
‘I can’t find the key,’ I said, frantically searching through my bedside drawer.
My heart stopped as I realised what that meant. The air around us was already thin, and I could hardly breathe. My skin tingled from the heat.
If we couldn’t get that window open soon… I shuddered.
As Brian tried in vain to break the glass with a bedside table, I racked my brains for answers.
That’s when it hit me – it had to be Simon!
Then there was an ear-splitting crack – Brian had broken the lock on the window with his bare hands, and fresh, clean air flooded in. We could breath again!
And look, there was the fire brigade arriving.
Within minutes, all four of us were helped down a ladder to safety.
But our ordeal wasn’t over yet…
‘It looks like the fire was arson,’ a police officer told us. ‘Whoever started it put something through your cat flap in the back door, and set light to them.
‘Can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you?’
I nodded slowly.
‘There is one person,’ I said, feeling sick. ‘Simon Lee, my ex.’
‘Oh God, not him,’ sighed Brian, shaking his head and looking up to the heavens.
‘It’s got to be,’ I said.Taking a deep breath, I told the officer everything.
When the police found Simon, he confessed to it all.
He was arrested and charged with arson with intent to endanger life.
He’d started the fire wanting to hurt us – kill us even.
I broke down as I thought how close we’d all come to dying.
For two months, I’d lived in fear, wondering what Simon’s next move would be. But I’d never imagined it would be this.
Watching my home licked by orange flames, with black smoke billowing from the window we’d escaped from minutes before, I struggled to take it all in.
My ex husband had been so consumed with jealousy he’d tried to kill me..
Worse, he’d been prepared to kill two innocent little boys, too.
We stayed in a hotel for two months and temporary accommodation for four months while the house was repaired.
This March, Simon was sentenced to six and a half years in prison at Nottingham Crown Court after admitting the offences.
 I felt sick when I found out he’d soaked t-shirts in white spirit and shoved them through the cat flap before setting them alight
I owe my life to Brian. If he hadn’t woken up that night and broken the window, I know me and the boys wouldn’t be here today.
Needless to say, I’m filing for divorce and we’ll be long gone by the time Simon gets out of prison.
They say breaking up is hard to do. But in some cases, it’s deadly…
Dawn Lee, 37, Forest Town, Notts