FORMER OLYMPIAN CURTIS ROBB FACES COERCIVE BEHAVIOUR TRIAL

Curtis Robb, a former Great Britain 800-metre runner who competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, has gone on trial at Chester Crown Court accused of controlling and coercive behaviour towards his wife, Sarah Robb. The prosecution alleges the behaviour occurred repeatedly between December 2015 and August 2023. Robb, now an orthopaedic surgeon based in Northwich, Cheshire, has pleaded not guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour and to a separate charge of suffocation. He and Sarah Robb, both doctors, have three children together and were married for more than 22 years.

Prosecutor Paulinus Barnes told the jury that Sarah Robb described a pattern of physical assaults, verbal abuse and sustained criticism throughout the marriage. She told police that Robb called her "a manipulative bitch" and "neurotic" and repeatedly told her she could not cope as a mother. During her pregnancy with their third child, she alleged Robb struck her on the arm leaving bruising and punched her arm and side while he was driving. Matters reached a critical point during a family holiday in the Lake District at Easter 2023, when Sarah Robb alleged Robb held a pillow over her face in what she described as an unprovoked attack, leaving her struggling to breathe.

Sarah Robb told police the pillow incident was "rock bottom" and that she believed she would "end up dead" if she did not leave the marriage. She reported the alleged abuse to police in October 2023. Barnes outlined the alleged behaviour to the jury on the opening day of proceedings on Monday. The trial at Chester Crown Court continues.