My abusive ex took every penny of my salary – I have no home or savings, ITV presenter Ruth Dodsworth reveals
ITV weather presenter Ruth Dodsworth has revealed how her physically abusive ex-husband took everything - leaving her penniless.
Despite working for 26-years, the forecaster has only her pension to her name after vile Jonathan Wignall pillaged her finances.
In a merciless campaign spanning almost a decade, Wignall also called her up to 150 times a day, went everywhere with her and put a tracker on her car after she left him.
The 48-year-old told : "He took every penny of my salary."
She added: "I have no savings, no home and my credit rating is destroyed because of the credit cards and loans he took out in my name.
"Everything I thought we owned, we didn’t."
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Ruth told how Jonathan, a former nightclub owner, even controlled her lunch money - sending her just £3-a-day for a Tesco meal deal.
The ITV Cymru forecaster would be asked out for lunch by colleagues but had to make up excuses, making her more and more isolated.
How you can get help
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a - available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
The abuse - which she says she failed to spot because of the manipulation and coercion - meant she never saw mail or bills.
Twisted Wignall was married to Ruth for 18 years, subjecting her to a nine-year campaign of controlling abuse.
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But Ruth told Loose Women she lived with the "insidious and subtle" abuse for 20-years.
She recalled trying to remain positive when the abuse began, she said: "You think 'oh he must really love me'.
"Then suddenly it becomes really overwhelming and overpowering."
Wignall was jailed for three years in April 2021 after pleading guilty to stalking and coercive control.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
But he served only 18 months and Ruth claims he continues to pursue her for half her pension.
The weather presenter says the menace's release last October signalled a return to a "new normal" of locking doors and windows and "looking over our shoulders".
Ruth's case is one of the experiences featured in the report, Seen Yet Sidelined, by charity Surviving Economic Abuse.
The report sets out to explain the impact of economic abuse in successful prosecutions of the Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Offence.
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Coercive or controlling behaviour has been an offence since 2015.
Anyone affected by this article can visit the Suzy Lamplugh Trust for help or call the National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300
