"Can we have an ambulance please, my daddy has just attacked my mammy." These are the haunting words uttered by an eight-year-old on a 999 call which show the grim reality of domestic violence in Wales. As the call continues, the child's voice disappears and is replaced by muffled screams as a man continues his barrage of abuse.
The child was calling after her stepfather had attacked her mother who was pregnant at the time. The attack was so violent that he broke her mother's ankle in two places meaning she needed to use a wheelchair for months. Her mother, who we are calling Emma for legal reasons first heard the call when it was played in family court as she battled for custody of her children.
This was the first time her partner had been violent towards her but the emotional abuse wagered at her was already taking its toll. He had been exercising coercive control methods as well as emotional abuse throughout their relationship, including isolating her from friends, deciding what clothes she wore and launching tirades of verbal abuse.
