My evil ex stole a gun from a museum’s mannequin – then pointed it through the letterbox at me and our children
A MUM has relived the horrifying moment she and her children were threatened by her controlling ex with a gun he had secretly stolen from a museum display.
When Lee Rousseau, 48, showed up at Cheryl Smith’s Lincoln home in March 2018, she had no idea that the pistol he pointed through the letterbox was a replica, prised from the arm of a First World War dummy on display at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life.
Terrified, she genuinely feared for her life as the chilling incident came after years of Rousseau’s abusive behaviour towards her reached a crescendo.
Speaking out as he was jailed for four years after admitting charges of theft, criminal damage and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, Cheryl, 40, is now calling for tougher sentences for repeat offenders.
She revealed how it also emerged at Lincoln Crown Court that he had 26 previous convictions for 49 offences.
Cheryl said: “I honestly believed Lee was going to kill me and I still do. I’m terrified my children will think that this is how you treat women, so I’m doing all I can to show them what a positive, loving male role model should be.
“To me, the sentence was incredibly disappointing but I’m focusing on being strong and rebuilding my life. I’m no victim – I’m a fighter.”
Meeting Lee at a party when she was just 15, Cheryl – who has four children with him, as well as an adult son from a previous relationship, all of whom she has been advised by authorities not to name – was immediately bowled over.
Eight years her senior, he seemed more sophisticated and oozed charm.
Completely falling for him, she was delighted when they eventually became a couple.
For four years, things were perfect, and the pair didn't have a single argument.
“He had his head together, ,” she said. “He was a real family man. We used to talk about children, and he’d say he wanted to be a full-time dad.”
But in time, Lee fell in with a bad crowd and ended up doing a stint in prison – coming out in the early 2000s a changed man.
Cheryl added: “I’d had my eldest son with someone else during that time and Lee seemed incredibly jealous.
“Things soon began to go wrong. He was controlling and alienated me from all my friends. He was incredibly paranoid about cheating, to the point where I couldn’t even work or go to the gym in case I met someone. My life wasn’t mine anymore.
“Deep down, I knew it was a vile, bitter relationship, but I was so under his control by then. I’d known him virtually all my adult life, and I had no idea how to untangle myself from him.”
Desperate to hold onto the glimpses she saw of the old Lee, Cheryl tried to make things work and the couple welcomed two children.
While he was a doting father, Lee’s abusive behaviour towards Cheryl was escalating and she also claims he developed issues with drink and drugs.
He pointed the gun through the letterbox and I just went into panic mode. I ushered the children away from his aim and phoned the police.
Cheryl Smith
“He reserved his anger for me,” she said. “Things came to a head in 2009 when I’d been on a night out, one of the rare occasions he’d allowed me to.
"I’d been careful not to stay late, get drunk or dress provocatively – but as soon as I came home I knew he was spoiling for a fight and he ended up physically hurting me.”
Broken, Cheryl told him things were over – but keen for the kids to still have a father figure, it was agreed that supervised visits were OK so long as he was sober.
In 2013, ground down by the years of abuse he had subjected her to and believing that no other man would ever want her, Cheryl briefly reconciled with Lee after a party one night, conceiving twins.
“I genuinely didn’t believe anyone else would ever love me. Lee used to always tell me I was his, and nobody else’s,” she said. “I love my children enormously but I also accept that having them bound me to him.”
“After the twins were born, he’d go through patches of being the perfect dad, going on courses and all sorts to try to change his behaviour.
“But then he’d barely see them as he went off drinking and taking drugs. Sober, he was kind, funny and nice to everyone – but it was a totally different story when he was intoxicated and I didn’t want that around the children.”
Then, in early 2018, Cheryl said he went “totally off the rails.”
A previous obsession he had developed with weapons became more and more extreme to the point where Cheryl had to put rules in place, threatening to stop the supervised visits if he talked about them around the kids.
Then, on March 14, she was at home with her children when she heard shouting outside her front door.
She recalled: “Lee had been so erratic in the weeks leading up to that day that we were on red alert anyway but I still froze when he turned up, clearly drunk, begging to come in.”
She added: “I told him no and that he had to go away and get sober but then he started kicking the door.
“He was asking over and over again if I had another man. Of course I didn’t – a relationship was the furthest thing from my mind – but he wouldn’t believe me.
“Eventually I said, ‘Why would I want someone else after everything with you?’ which really seemed to rile him. He pointed the gun through the letterbox and I just went into panic mode. I ushered the children away from his aim and phoned the police.”
Hearing the 999 call, Lee screamed that Cheryl was “a grass,” before fleeing.
On the run for 24 hours, during which time she and her children were in total lockdown, even phoning the kids’ schools to warn them that he was on the loose, Lee was eventually arrested at his mother’s house.
Police then found out that the gun was in fact a replica – a First World War pistol stolen from a local museum’s trenches display.
In October 2018, Lee Rousseau, from Lincoln, appeared at Lincoln Crown Court, where he admitted his crimes and was sent to prison.
Cheryl was also shocked to discover he had 26 previous convictions for 49 offences – most of which she had no idea about as they had taken place mainly during periods when he had no contact with the family.
Now, though bitterly disappointed with his “lenient” sentence, she is speaking out to urge other women to leave abusive relationships before it is too late.
Cheryl said: “I want other women to realise that no matter what is said or done, no matter how long you’ve been with them and how much you think you love them – there is always a way out, and people who are there to help you leave safely.”
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