A woman who was raped and strangled by her abusive boyfriend to the point of losing her voice secretly recorded him accusing her of causing her own injuries. Suzie Mahe, 31, was repeatedly attacked and knocked unconscious by her ex-partner, Gavin Roberts, 47.
Repeated assaults and strangulation
The mum-of-one endured numerous assaults during their relationship, including strangulation attacks that resulted in vocal cord dysfunction and breathing difficulties requiring extensive speech therapy. On one occasion, Ms Mahe, from Jersey, was pinned against a wall and strangled outside a nightclub before being punched on the head. Her eyelashes were ripped off, and her earring was broken and yanked from her ear.
The most severe incident took place during a trip away together when Roberts subjected her to a prolonged ordeal at a hotel, leading to rape and the use of toys on her without her consent. The incident left her with significant facial injuries and body bruising.
Secret recordings capture abuse
Roberts attempted to convince her that she had inflicted the bruises herself. He told her that he messaged one of her friends, claiming that she had gone missing and was "off her face". Upon their return to Jersey, Ms Mahe feared for her life. She started to secretly film Roberts to protect herself.
In one of the recordings, he can be heard losing his temper with Ms Mahe because she was "supposed to be downstairs". Roberts shouted and swore at her, telling her to "f*** off" and calling her a "c***". Shortly afterwards, Roberts seriously assaulted Ms Mahe where he strangled her and caused her to vomit.
But after the assault, Ms Mahe made another recording where they are arguing about the abuse on their trip away, saying that she went missing and he was suspicious that she had sex with someone else. When Suzie asked him why he hit her, his response was "because you keep being a d***". He also stated that she had "an attitude", and "maybe if you behaved yourself, that wouldn't happen".
Abuser showed pride in injuries
Roberts was subsequently arrested following the attack. Reflecting on the abusive relationship, Ms Mahe says he was 'almost proud' that he caused her multiple injuries. She said: "He was proud anytime that he hurt me, it was really bizarre that he was so proud of what he had done, and achieved." "He would look around your body at your injuries and almost enjoy it."
Ms Mahe met Roberts in July 2022 on a dating app, but within months, the relationship had spiralled into violence. The first attack came in October 2022, when he verbally abused her, grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against a door outside a nightclub, before the abuse escalated. Royal Court of Jersey heard that he also punched her to the left side of her head, more than two times, while he was holding her neck with his other hand.
She said: "It left physical marks on my neck. The attack felt like it took forever." Ms Mahe said about the distressing attack while on holidays: "It was a long-winded attack that went through the night of physical punching, once again strangling and then leading to rape and using toys on me without my permission." "I felt like my body went into a protective way, and it blacked out a lot of things for me, but I still remember him stripping me naked."
Jailed for 15 years
"When you're so far away from home, you're quite vulnerable. You have to just let it happen to you. He did have control of him at that point." "I was in shock that it happened to me - there was a bit of denial. I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was a very violent person."
Roberts, a former restaurant owner in Jersey, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for 11 different offences, including one count of rape, two of sexual penetration without consent, and three counts of grave and criminal assault in respect of Ms Mahe. A second woman then came forward to report two separate assaults between February and September 2022. The three voyeurism charges referred to his filming of a third woman while they were having sex. The abuse all occurred between 2018 and 2022.
If you have been affected by issues of domestic violence or coercive control you can call Refuge's 24-Hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline for free. The number is 0808 2000 247.
