Prison guard love!
Lesley left didn't know Nigel had a dark secret..
Monday 20th October 2008
I was shaking, but I tried to keep my voice steady as my daughters, Cheryl, then 15, and 9-year-old Natalie, looked up from the settee.
'D-did Nigel ever come into your rooms?' I stammered.
They looked at me as if I'd gone mad. Since my boyfriend, Nigel Knighton, now 36, had moved in a year earlier, he'd probably popped into their rooms lots of times. There was nothing wrong with that, was there? Well, after what I'd just found out, there was.
It was September 2006. Three weeks earlier, while the girls had been at their dad's, my
ex-husband Clive's house, Nigel and I had spent the evening with our friends, Pete and Lisa, at their place. We'd been having a few drinks and chatting while their kids, Ellie, then 12, and Meg, 10, were in bed. Just after 11pm Nigel had nipped to the loo, then come downstairs and walked straight out of the house. Baffled and embarrassed, I'd made my apologies and followed him home. Perhaps he wasn't feeling well, I'd thought, as he stomped off to bed. But less than half-an-hour later, Pete had turned up on the doorstep.
'It's Ellie,' he'd raged, his face like thunder. 'Nigel went into her room.'
'What?' I'd gawped. 'Perhaps he thought her room was the bathroom. He'd had a bit to drink.'
'She's in such a state, I think it's more serious than that,' he'd said.
My heart had started racing.
'Leave this to me,' I'd said, storming upstairs.
'What the hell have you done to Ellie?' I'd yelled at Nigel.
'Nothing,' he'd mumbled, going back to sleep.
Pete had left, but my mind wouldn't stop whirring. The way Nigel had shot out of Pete and Lisa's was so odd…
I couldn't take any chances, so the next morning, I'd told Nigel to leave. The girls were upset but I knew I'd made the right choice. Especially when, three weeks later, Nigel's dad, Alan, had phoned.
'Nigel's been arrested,' he'd told me. 'Was it one of your girls?'
'What do you mean my girls?' I'd stammered.
'When Nigel was 18, he served five years for assault on a child,' Alan had explained.
My stomach had lurched. Nigel had told me he wasn't allowed to see his two kids because he'd been convicted of GBH after punching someone in a pub. But now, the realisation hit me. He'd assaulted a child.
Putting the phone down, I'd felt sick to think I'd shared a bed with him. I was still shaking later that day, when a police officer had come round and told me the details of Nigel's previous conviction.
'He raped an 8-year-old girl,' he'd explained.
'Natalie was 8 when we got together,' I'd gasped.
So now, I was having to ask the hardest questions I'd ever asked.
'He never touched me, Mum,' Natalie said.
'Me neither,' Cheryl agreed.
Relieved is an understatement.
I was advised not to speak to Pete and Lisa, as we might be witnesses. But the police kept me informed when Nigel was released on bail. Within days, he was rearrested for attempted rape on a woman of 36. I couldn't believe it. Nigel had seemed kind and dependable. In reality, he was a monster! What if he'd done something to the girls but they were too scared to tell me? I arranged for Natalie to have counselling, and after several months, the therapist was satisfied she hadn't been abused. Eight months after his arrest, in June 2007, Nigel appeared at Worcester Crown Court, charged with sexual assault on
a female child under 13 and a further sexual assault on the other female, who'd been pregnant at the time.
I couldn't bear to go, but I read in the paper that he'd gone into Ellie's room and kissed her on the lips before asking to fondle her chest. Thankfully, he pleaded guilty, so Ellie didn't have to testify. He was given an indeterminate sentence, but would have to serve
at least 548 days before being considered for release. Judge Richard Rundell said he was a 'dangerous man' who posed a serious risk to children. He was banned from working with children and will have to sign the sex offenders' register.
With Nigel behind bars, I tried to move on, but I felt so betrayed.A month on, when a letter arrived from Blakenhurst Prison, Redditch, I felt sick.
I know I did wrong, I still love you and the kids. I'll change…
'Why won't he leave us alone?' I cried.
I was already off work with stress. Stuck indoors, I felt like the prisoner.So when a couple of days later, Clive suggested going along to the social club he ran, the Discharged and Demobilised Soldiers and Sailors club, I forced myself to go.
It was there, three months on, I got chatting to an old friend called Ian.
'I'm a prison officer at Blakenhurst Prison,' he told me.
'My ex is in there,' I shuddered. 'He's been sending me letters.'
'You should write to the prison governor,' he advised.
Ian was easy to talk to and I started meeting him at the club. Sometimes he'd pop round for a cuppa, too. It was strange to think he saw Nigel at work, though he wasn't allowed to tell me much about him. I worried about letting a man in our home, but at least I knew Ian had been criminal record checked at work. With his support, I went back to my nursing job, then last December, things changed again.
'I feel more for you than I should,' he blurted out.
I didn't know what to say. After Nigel, I hadn't considered another relationship. But as Ian's words sank in, I realised I felt the same. On Valentine's Day this year, we were eating a Chinese meal in front of the telly when Ian went down on one knee.
'Will you marry me?' he asked.
I nodded, blinking back tears of happiness.
We've set a date for this December. Nigel's been transferred to another prison so he's out of both our lives. I don't see Pete and Lisa any more, but I hope Ellie has been able to put what happened behind her. As for us, the girls and I finally have a good man in our lives. And in a weird way, it's thanks to Nigel.