Paul C. Brunson: Red Flag (2026) s01e01 Episode Script

1
I've spent most of my adult life
helping people find and keep love,
working at the forefront
of modern dating
to study how we feel about
the partners we choose.
But I know relationships
have a darker side.
How are you doing?
It's lovely to meet you.
I'm meeting survivors
of toxic relationships
..hearing their stories
and reliving pivotal moments
to help reveal
the red flags abusers try to hide.
He just made me think that
he was my only option.
I naively thought he's a just
a bit insecure in himself.
I felt stuck in
that relationship for so long.
When you're in it, you
can't see it. You cannot see it.
I hid a lot of things away
because I didn't
want people to know.
A red flag is a warning sign.
And by spotting a red flag,
you not only protect your loved
ones, but you protect yourself.
I'm meeting Charlotte,
who survived a campaign of coercive
control by her boyfriend, Josh.
When people say, like, what's your
horror movie in your life,
that's that flat, really.
She was just looking
to find that person.
He gave all the indications that it
could be him.
I want to uncover
the red flags in Josh's behaviour,
which gave away the abuse
that trapped Charlotte for two years.
Even in this moment, he
sounds convincing. Yeah.
I also want to learn how she felt
when it ended with
the despicable graveside attack.
I had a phone call from
Charlotte frantically screaming,
"Mum, come and get me.
Come and get me."
I remember screaming,
but like nothing coming out.
It was just like pure shock.
I thought I was going to die.
I'm so glad that we're doing this.
Yeah. Yeah.
What do you
most want to get out of it?
Um Awareness. Do it for me.
Do it for my daughter.
Yes. Do it for my family, yeah. And
everyone else in my life, really,
to show everything that's happened.
One thing that I know for sure is
we haven't even sat down
to have a conversation. Yeah.
But your story is going to resonate
with many, many, many people.
Yeah.
There's never a dull moment when
Charlotte was around.
Charlotte was just very
kind, loving,
very strong-willed.
If she didn't want
to do anything,
she wouldn't do it.
My best friend.
We went through school together.
She used to do, like, a drama
class by our house
..which I used to go and watch.
If either of us were upset,
we'd always be there for each other.
I mean, before
Josh, we were still
We were still close.
I want to hear how Charlotte's
relationship started
and developed.
Were there red flags for Josh's
abuse which we can only see now?
Now, you know, I was going
through your Facebook page. Yeah.
And I was going down the years.
Going down the years,
and I couldn't
I didn't see anything posted in 2021.
Probably not.
No, I wasn't allowed to.
"Wasn't allowed to."
No. Wasn't allowed like,
even go on my phone
to text my mum and dad.
Like because he'd look at
the messages at night.
So, would you say that that year,
2021 in particular,
your life changed?
Yeah, for sure.
That was the year that,
like, I realised I'm
in something now
that I don't know how I'm
going to get out of.
It was that year that Josh
comes into your life. Mm-hm.
Josh just sort of
started messaging me on Snapchat.
Wanted to see me,
and I was sort of like,
"No, I don't know you," like,
"That's a bit too much."
And then he just sort
of kept on it every day.
And then I was sort of in
a space where I was like,
"OK, like, what's the harm in
meeting up with someone?"
So, if we can go back
to even that first meeting. Yeah.
What was your impression of him?
Wild.
Wild. The way he was driving,
he was just bouncing off
the walls almost.
OK. And I was like,
"maybe I need someone
like this in my life."
cos I was always very quiet
growing up.
Maybe let's try something
different and hope for the best.
Yeah. OK.
We didn't know nothing about Josh.
She said he seems a nice guy. Um
..didn't really say an awful lot.
I think she was just looking
to find that person,
as anyone is.
She was hoping it was him.
He gave all the sort of
indications that it could be him.
Was there anything else that was
happening in that early part
of meeting him that hit your radar?
I met his mum really quick.
He met my mum really quick
and that was all down to him.
How soon after meeting him
the first time
did he meet your mother
and did you meet his mother?
Umso I would say about two
weeks and I met his mum.
Two weeks? Yeah. It was very,
like, intense. It was very awkward.
I didn't want to do it. I knew that,
but, like,
I was sort of just pushed into
it, I guess.
Yeah. He kept pushing and
pushing. Mm-hm.
There's nothing I could have said
that would have changed that,
I don't think.
When you think about what
he's done thus far,
there's several red flags.
Love bombing is a red flag
that often comes up.
Typically, when we
hear about love bombing,
we're thinking of,
you know, endless flowers,
endless gifts, endless
But what he did is he tried
to fast-track meeting your mum
and you meeting his mum.
Where it becomes scary is that
he's saying,
"You know what?
We're already in a relationship.
"The fact that I've already met
your mum. You met my mum."
We've skipped all these
minor milestones,
now we're at big milestones
already. Yeah.
And I think what that does to
a lot of abusers is
it then allows them to be able
to hide the control.
So, I see how this started
just two weeks in. Mm-hm.
Charlotte is taking me back
to important places
and moments in her relationship
so I can understand exactly what she
went through.
Where are we?
Um, so this was his flat
just down here.
With the dark? Yeah.
Oh, I see.
When did you first come here?
I think it was like the second
time of me meeting him.
I remember he just picked me
up in the car.
Like, just kept saying,
like, "Let's just go back to mine."
Like, "We can watch a film."
We drove around for a while.
And he sort of kept
mentioning it to go back to his.
I didn't really want to do it.
But then it sort ofI sort
of had no choice
cos he just kept mentioning it
and I just sort of gave in
to him, really.
So, to be back here now,
how does it feel?
Just
It feels like crazy.
Don't Like, it just
It's like when people say like
what's your horror movie,
like in your life.
Like that's that flat, really.
Oh, really? Yeah.
So many, like, stuff happened.
So many arguments.
Just to see the window really, like,
it gives you, like, goosebumps.
I did used to say to Charlotte,
it just seems a bit full-on,
so quick.
The relationship was going
100 miles an hour.
She mainly then slept at his.
She didn't actually move out,
but a lot of her stuff was at
his house.
It's hard to believe, really.
I think it was very much love
bombing from the start,
telling Charlotte what she'd
want to hear.
He knew what he was doing.
Look at what happened in just
the two weeks. Mm-hm.
Did you feel like there was
something off?
He just sort of, like,
painted this life.
Like he had everything sorted.
I think that was a big thing.
Like he had his own flat,
car, good job.
That was the most attractive thing,
I guess, to him was he had what
seemed like his life sorted.
I know there was a moment in
the car that happened early in
the relationship. Yeah.
So, we had just left the pub
and, yeah,
we were just arguing.
He's just screaming at me
and I knew it was serious.
He wasn't just messing around.
How do you feel?
Petrified.
Like what's next?
OK. All right.
Thank you. Come on out.
Charlotte is taking me to
the first place she described being
petrified by Josh.
I want to understand what he did
to terrify her and how she responded.
So, you and Josh,
you're just two months in
the relationship.
Yeah. You're probably thinking,
"This is a great guy." Mm-hm.
If you can walk me back through
everything that happened Yeah.
..in that moment.
It was sort of an incident of me
and Josh being at the pub.
He was drinking,
and that was sort of
the first time I saw him drinking.
OK. So, he was like a completely
different person straight away.
And then he chose to get
behind the wheel and drive,
which isn't good.
He wasn't a very nice driver anyway.
He started getting, like,
he's shouting at me,
calling me names,
making me stay in the car.
He pulled me back into the car.
Oh, so you're trying to get away?
Yeah.
So, the moment he does that,
what are you thinking?
I can remember the feeling now,
like, in my chest.
It was just like,
"Get out," like, "Go."
Did you tell him, too?
"Josh, I want out."
Yeah, he was chasing after me.
And it was here where he
was chasing you? Yeah.
Yeah, down one of these
side streets.
And a lady came out
and sort of said,
"Can you sort her out, please?"
"Can you sort HER out?" Yeah.
"Get her quiet," basically.
"Calm her down."
Yeah. Yeah, basically.
Isn't that wild?
And then I seen like I could hide
basically round here
away from the main road.
So, if he drove past, he wouldn't
see me. He wouldn't see you.
I called my mum straight away.
I had a phone
call from Charlotte
frantically screaming
down the phone.
"Mum, come and get me.
Come and get me."
So, when we got there,
she was really distressed.
The moment that Charlotte
needed anyone,
the first stranger denies her
and makes Charlotte feel as if
she is to blame.
It's unacceptable.
And for that, I'm incredibly,
incredibly sad.
We bundled her in the car
and took her home.
But he's nonstop calling me.
Wants me back.
He's saying he loves me.
I'm just like,
"Just leave me alone.
I don't want this any more."
So, this is sort of like the road
outside my mum's house.
It's sort of after the pub incident,
he followed me here,
and sort of parked his car
along here. Oh, wow. OK.
And he was just on the phone
to me screaming,
telling me he's going
to kill himself
if I don't get back in the car.
We just didn't know what to do.
She was in hysterics
cos she was thinking,
"He's going to kill his self
and it's going to be my fault."
I could see him like, that's my
bedroom window up there.
So, I could see him
actually in the car.
So, he was doing that
from right out here? Yeah.
I could just see his car.
You could just see him in the,
like, in the driver's seat
just losing his mind.
This is where you grew up.
This is where you felt safe
Yeah. ..as a little girl.
The fact that he was doing
those things
..how did it make you feel about
home?
It wasn't only me living there.
It was my family, too.
It made me worry for them.
And it's just an open lane,
like he could come down
at any time.
You know what I'm finding more and
more
when you recollect
these stories with Josh is that
everything that he did was
to put you in a place of fear.
It was just like something
that only happened in,
like, films or like
something you'd see on TV.
I never thought that would ever
happen to me, really.
Our safety is the most
important thing in our lives.
And if you don't feel like where
you are living is safe,
nothing in your life is safe.
No-one should live like that.
Look at this. Already, he has
physically assaulted you. Yeah.
And I think what a lot of people do,
and the reason why this is such a
red flag is that a lot of abusers,
what they will do is they will
use that early
physical assault to test
the boundaries. Yeah.
And why is he saying he's
going to take his life?
Because I've just broke up with him.
We definitely have to spend
a moment on this
because this is definitely
a red flag. Mm-hm.
That is emotional
manipulation right there, 101. Yeah.
You know, what he's trying
to do is he's trying to
use your emotions in order to get
you to do whatever he wants. Yeah.
Which is in this case,
not break up with him. Yeah.
The next day, we were all going
out for a meal as a family,
and, she was texting, and I thought,
"Oh, he's texting her."
I just knew it was him.
The way he worded things after
it was like,
"I won't do it again."
He really just got in my head
and just messed it up, I think.
There was some part of me was like,
just made me feel wanted
and I just fell for that, really.
And that was sort of the
time like we got Reggie, as well.
So, this was him as a puppy.
Oh, my gosh, look how small he is.
REGGIE WHINES, BARKS
He wanted the dog.
He wanted us to have this
little family.
So, how is Josh as a dog dad?
Awful.
REGGIE WHINES
Reggie was eight weeks old
when we got him.
A day or two later, obviously
a puppy is really lovely, like
But obviously they come
with problems,
like they're not trained
and they've just They're babies.
He couldn't deal with that.
He was from the first night banging
on his cage, shaking it.
Josh was just like teeth clenching,
just frothing at the mouth
because he was so angry.
And I remember holding Reggie
cos I was scared that he was going
to kick him or something like that.
So, I was holding him
..and he just, straight up,
just punches him in the face.
And I'm holding him,
and the first thing I did was just
look at Reggie's face
and he just looked normal.
And I think, like, in that
moment, I was like,
"What else has he done for
him to not react?"
The question that always
comes up is, why stay? Yeah.
My self-esteem was just so low.
He just made me think that he
was my only option.
Did you feel almost worthless?
Yeah. I felt trapped.
What happens next?
It was sort of a day or two later,
we were going to a festival.
So, I was going with my friend
and he had to make her
come round to his flat.
We got ready together.
He was sat in the corner constantly
just watching us,
not even doing anything.
He was just staring.
I remember my friend
going to me like,
"What is he doing?"
Like, just being weird.
Like, it's not normal behaviour.
And I remember we talked
about what I was going to wear.
It was just cycling shorts,
a vest top,
and like, a chequered shirt
over top.
I remember going to the
bathroom to change,
and he just comes in after me.
And he's just up in my face,
and he puts his hands around my neck
and just scream at me like, what
I'm wearing, even though,
this is what I wore on
a normal day.
It's what he approved of.
How much of a slag I am, and,
why am I such a slag.
And cheating, and why am I
entertaining other men.
All I'm worried about is my
mate's in the next room.
"Can she hear this?
Is he going to hurt her next?"
But whilst I'm thinking that
he's got his hands around my
throat strangling me.
So, with strangulation,
you were seven times more likely
to then, later, be not only
physically assaulted, but killed.
Right.
But yet you were more concerned about
your friend Yeah.
..than yourself. Yeah.
Cos my self-esteem is so low,
I didn't really care about myself.
It was the next day
and I was just like,
I can't get it out of
my head that he
went to the extreme
of strangling me
over something he said I could wear.
Turns into like a few days later,
I'm at work one day thinking,
"What can I do to get this man out
of my life?
"I need to tell my mum."
I said, "Right, I'm on my way.
Pack all what you can up."
I was fearful, really.
I'm with Charlotte at her
ex, Josh's old flat.
After five months
of escalating abuse,
Charlotte has finally asked
for her mother's help.
I remember calling my mum up
just as I finished work,
sat outside and I just said,
"Mum, I need to bring a dog home."
We went in together
and it was just like a
mad rush, mad panic.
So, were you trying to get
out before he came back home?
Yeah, so he had no idea that
my mum was round,
that I was doing this
because I was just so scared of
what his reaction would be.
We were racing up
and down the stairs,
like, filling the car up
before he come
home from work,
just so we got
away, really.
What were you scared of happening
if he had arrived home
before you had left?
Hurting me. Hurting my mum.
Hurting the dog.
Stopping me. Yeah. Um
Wanting to keep the dog
cos I knew he'd probably
end up dead.
And I just wanted him
to have no suspicion like that
it was even going on until I
knew I was home safe. Yes.
How did that feel
to drive away from here?
Oh, it felt amazing.
Like it was such a relief.
You know, I could see that.
That's a real smile right there.
It's so interesting how you
could relive the down moments,
but then also those moments
of empowerment, of joy
Yeah. ..and leaving and
how that felt.
Yeah, it was just amazing.
You finally break away.
Was it over?
No. For a full minute, really.
Constantly messaging me.
Please don't do this.
I've asked you not to hit me.
And I'm telling you
I'm not going to!
But you have.
Oh, Charlotte, please?
Please, I'm begging you, Char.
One more?
I Please. You're gonna break me.
Oh, my goodness. I felt
chills Yeah. ..on that.
And I can hear he's doing
everything to try to win you back.
Yeah, that was every day.
And even in this moment,
he sounds convincing. Yeah.
It sounds like, "Give him
another chance," like Mm-hm.
Yeah, he sounds convincing.
I mean, I didn't contact him
for a whole month,
but this is just one example.
Because he knew where my mum worked.
he knew where my brother worked,
dad, everyone,
knew where they lived,
and he just started listing them
off, like, one by one.
Like, "I will turn up there
and I'll smash their heads in."
And I was like, "Oh, God."
So he's literally threatening
to kill your family members?
Yeah. ..unless you go back to him?
Yeah.
You're dead. You're dead.
Watch yourself, you're dead.
In the meantime, like,
he's manipulating me still.
So, he's making me feel like
I need to be with him.
This is a very important red flag
for us to be aware of.
You could say that he's
manipulating you right now. Yeah.
But no, manipulating is
when he's using threats
and fear to make you feel as if you
have less and less options. Mm-hm.
Coercion is just using all
of those same tactics
and making you believe you
have no other options.
Mm-hm. That's coercion. Yeah.
That's what he's doing to you.
This is a major red flag.
Do you have any other options?
No.
Lit Unless I go to the police,
but then, whether or
not I get taken seriously,
I don't feel like I've got
enough evidence cos I don't
I didn't ever have any bruises.
I was waiting for him
to knock me out,
do something that I'd end up
in hospital,
for someone to realise
what is actually going on.
So, you have been seeing him on and
off from April until September? Yeah.
What happens next?
So, after Christmas now.
So, we're like in January, February
and it was quite late.
He knows, like,
my dad works nights.
My mum occasionally works nights.
And I was letting the dogs out at
the back for the last,
like, let out of the night.
And he just stood there at
the end of the garden.
I was just, like, in shock.
Like, I don't even know if I
really said anything to begin with.
And I was just like,
"What are you doing?"
But he just come, like,
charging towards me, basically,
and just entered the house, um
And what time is it right now?
11 o'clock at night.
11 o'clock at night. Mm-hm.
And your mother is?
At work. At work. Your
father is at work. Mm-hm.
They're not due to return until?
Like six am. Half six.
And he knows that.
He's just like,
"I want to have sex with you."
And I was just like,
"No, like that is not happening."
It was getting later and
later and later.
And I was like, "My dad is
going to be home in a minute."
And it's back to, like,
this embarrassment,
like I didn't want my
dad to find out.
And I was like,
I could call to my neighbours,
but they're elderly.
And I was just like, that's
What if they don't hear me
and he does something
to Reggie in the meantime?
It's just too much risk for me.
You were considering
just yelling Yeah.
..to try to have
someone come help you. Yeah.
It was justdidn't
know what to do.
And I just ended up giving in,
and, like, had sex with him.
And then, that was
And then he left.
When you think about that moment.
Had you given consent?
I agreed, but not in
the sense of I wanted to, yeah.
It's so important for us,
when reflecting back,
to understand that in that moment you
felt as if you had no options. Mm-hm.
That's coercion. Yeah.
The most extreme form
of manipulation. Yeah.
And so you gave in,
in essence, in order
to be safe. Yeah.
Did you call the police?
Yeah, I remember it was just
a few days later.
We called the police, made a log.
What were you told on that
initial call?
Um, so, it was just like someone
taking all the notes down,
like just a call handler,
or someone would call me,
but it wouldn't go anywhere.
It'd just be like,
"I'll just let you know." Like,
"We are looking into this.
"You will be contacted soon."
Are you then scared
because you've now reported him?
He's already threatened you.
He's already physically
assaulted you.
I was I couldn't sleep at night.
I knew I was like, at rock bottom.
Um, I thought I was
just really stressed out.
And that's why I wasn't
getting, like,
a monthly period.
But me and my mum went to
the doctors and they were like,
"Yeah, you are
pregnant, about 12 weeks."
12 weeks? Yeah.
About ten days after
my 21st birthday, I found out.
OK. Yeah.
I knew straight away that
it was Josh's
and that was sort of like
It was a really bittersweet
moment cos obviously
I would love a baby,
but it was always that doubt
of would I, with him?
I was very shocked.
I was like thinking, "Oh, my God."
The connection with him for
the rest of her life.
That was my fear.
My friends and family were
really concerned.
So, we FaceTimed
and we had a conversation.
This is when she
told me that
Josh would have
been the dad.
Which made, obviously,
the situation a lot harder
because she didn't want to put
a baby in a situation
with him like she did with Reg.
It was just a really
difficult decision
whether or not I would
go through with it.
If you keep the baby,
he will be in your life forever.
But I had to think about myself
and could I go through with that?
Like, of getting rid of the baby?
My dad was really supportive.
My mum was really supportive.
So, you know, I felt like I had
the family around me to be
able to do this on my own.
It was on a FaceTime call.
I told him, like, "I'm pregnant."
And he just broke down crying.
Couldn't believe it.
Just really, like, happy, really.
It was happy? Yeah, but
I told him there and then,
like, I was never going to leave
the baby on their own with him,
purely because of how
he was with Reggie.
There's no way he can deal with
a crying baby on his own.
So, we find out we are
having a girl.
And she had complications,
like in that scan.
I had to go to London to
see a specialist.
And that was sort of like where I
found out
that she had Pallister-Killian
Syndrome as well.
She'd probably be blind.
She'd not be able
to cry or move even.
And then I've been told it's
about 5% survival.
Yeah. It was, erm.
..very emotional. Uh
So, they recommended that she go
throughout her pregnancy
to have a natural birth.
There was just hope.
And she was hoping
that everything would work out
and her baby would be healthy.
After that, his
behaviour went downhill,
back to being abusive.
He says to me,
"If the baby doesn't look like me,
"I'm going to stab you
in the stomach."
What I'm trying to comprehend,
which I don't think I will
ever be able to,
is how you were able
to manage it all in that moment.
Is there anywhere where you
feel safe?
No.
No, not really.
Can you take us to the day?
Your daughter's name is Lottie?
Lottie, yeah. OK, can you take us
to that day when Lottie was born?
Yeah, um
So, I got in induced about ten
o'clock in the morning.
We basically got told that
she was going to pass away.
There wasn't much that we could do.
She would say she
didn't want it done,
she didn't want it done
because shekeeping
the baby inside,
she was alive.
I remember Charlotte
sort of crying.
Good girl. Love you, OK?
What do you most remember?
It was just, like amazing.
All the miracles that she did.
Like, I got told that she'd probably
pass away on the way out.
She's crying.
But she cried.
She held my finger and it
was, like, I'm so grateful.
You look ecstatic. Yeah.
You know, you look very, very happy.
Yeah, over the moon.
Just so grateful like to hear her.
Like, just
Just hold her.
You're so brave.
I love you so much.
It's just the best feeling ever,
being able to be a mum,
even though I was only
a mum for like an hour.
And in that last moment that you had
with her, was she with you?
Yeah.
Really tough.
I'll tell you,
I think that becoming a parent,
regardless of the length of time,
is a life-changing moment.
She's been my motivation.
Like, from the minute
I got pregnant,
like it's all been about her.
Like, everything I do is
like for her.
She was so strong, Charlotte.
So strong.
He was there.
It was very hard.
You know, the burial site
and the grave was beautiful.
I've seen photos on your
..on socials. Yeah.
But then at the end of the funeral,
are you thinking,
"This is the last time
"that I'll have to deal with Josh.
He's now finally out of my life"?
I knew it wouldn't be.
This to me, is the most shocking
twist to the story. Yeah.
I was, like,
next to my daughter's grave,
and I was just thinking,
"He's actually going to kill me."
So, Charlotte, I see where we are.
This is where my
daughter Lottie is buried.
Lottie's is the pink one over there.
Oh, of course. With the
With the all fully pink. Yeah.
Oh, my gosh. It's Sleeping Beauty
at the moment.
Cos I always called her my
Sleeping Beauty.
That was sort of like the
Disney princess I picked for her.
I know that you come frequently,
but when was the last
time you were here?
Yesterday. Yesterday?
Yesterday, yeah.
And the last time that you were
here with Josh, could you?
Could you bring us back to
that moment? Is that OK? Yeah.
At this point, it is my
daughter's six-month anniversary,
and I hadn't heard from him in
a long time.
And I got a message.
He said, "I want to put
flowers down, but I'm only
"going to do it if you're there
and you do it with me."
I didn't want to be with him,
but I wanted him to be
a dad towards Lottie. Right.
I was taking pictures cos
I always take pictures, um
And I got a notification on my
phone at the time.
He got really angry about that.
About the notification?
Yeah. He thought?
He probably thought it was a boy
texting me something like that.
Just getting really jealous
straight away.
And I told him to leave.
Which he did
go back to his car here.
OK, his car was parked here. Yeah.
I was sort of sat next
to her grave,
and then he stormed over.
When I told him,
like, "Just go." And, um
Yeah, he just proceeded
to beat me up.
He'd just finished work,
so he had his work boots on,
and he just kicked me like
a football player, essentially,
over and over again.
All on my legs, on my thighs.
And I just remember screaming,
but, like, nothing coming out.
It was just, like, pure shock.
That's all I had in
my brain was that,
at least I was next to my daughter
while it happened.
So, you were
almost preparing yourself?
Yeah, yeah, I thought that was it.
I just remember, like,
being in absolutely
excruciating pain.
I literally thought I was
going to die, really.
In that moment when he was
physically assaulting you,
were you thinking purely
of your daughter? Yeah.
Like, wholeheartedly, completely.
And, like, "At least I'll
be with her now."
And then from there,
he would get just angrier
and angrier.
So that, fuck you, then. Fuck you.
Fuck your dead retarded daughter.
Fuck your money.
Fuck your grave.
Fuck the lot of you.
You're all fucking dead to me.
She kept it secret
for about two months.
She didn't look OK.
She was sat on her makeup chair
and she sort of broke down a bit.
And then she explained
what had happened.
And it was
Yeah, that was painful.
And then she was like, "Yeah,
we need to go to the police."
So, she did.
And she also explained
the situation to her mum.
I think she felt ashamed
cos she met
up with him again.
But like I said,
she was doing it for Lottie.
Within a week, I had charity
contact me via the police
to say, "We can get you
a non-molestation order,
"but it's an emergency
"because even though this has
happened a few months ago,
"you're in danger."
So, a month later, what then happens?
Just get a phone call saying,
"We'll bring him in
for questioning."
"We'll go to his house
and arrest him."
I had to give a
statement over the phone,
which I found really hard,
and it took about four years
to get to the court.
You now are going to court.
You're getting messages Mm-hm.
..from other women
who are being assaulted.
Yeah, like who used to talk to him.
So there's six other girls there.
So seven of us in total,
all who have been with him.
This blows my mind. So, he has
This is coerced Mm-hm.
What we know of,
coerced and assaulted Yes.
..six or more women. Yeah.
And it just made me feel sick.
So, it's seven of you in court? Yeah.
Now, is he admitting
to what's happening in court?
Yeah, so he pled guilty.
He pled guilty to all
of them, yeah.
I understand that your
statement in particular
was very impactful on the hearing.
Yeah.
Would you be able
to share some of that statement?
Yeah, of course.
"Regardless of what Josh has
put me through,
"I feel like he needs to be punished
"for his actions in relation
to my daughter Lottie the most.
"No woman or child should ever
deserve that pain.
"Lottie and I are worth
more than that,
"and I know if she was still
here today, she would agree to that.
"You will never be half the
man that you
"so desperately think that you are.
"I will forever despise you,
and I will never forgive you."
I'm so proud of her, yeah.
She was so strong.
At the end, her last
sentence was to Josh,
she turned at him
and said she'll never forgive him,
never forget what he'd done.
He washe was shaking.
The things she's been faced
with you don't expect
to see in a lifetime.
She showed us how strong
a human could be.
What shocked me most
about Charlotte's story
was when she told me
that her self-esteem was so low
that she just didn't care
about herself any more.
She put the safety of her friends
and family above hers.
And this is exactly what abusers do,
is they erode your
self-esteem to the point where
you feel as if you don't
even deserve help.
But, happily, Charlotte fought back.
You are extraordinarily strong.
Thank you.
I just hope I have done her proud
and I am a good mum to her,
even though she's not here any more.