‘I was married to £300k ram raider – this is the untold story I need everyone to hear’

The ex-wife of a notorious jewellery raider has spoken of the moment she ‘fled for her life amid years of domestic abuse’. Police gave Rebecca Leek just 24 hours to escape from her ‘dangerous and deceptive’ former partner.

During the 17-year relationship, the mum-of-five says she was ‘kicked, verbally abused and slapped by her violent husband’ – but could see “no way out”. After it ended, she says he ‘rammed her car’ amid a harassment campaign, as he repeatedly breached the non-molestation order to protect her.

Avoiding prison with a suspended sentence for crimes against her, Trevor Leek was free to walk the streets – and join a gang-of-five as they targeted Danyaal Jewellers in Birmingham’s ‘viral’ ram raid. Thought to have been behind the wheel, the 44-year-old ploughed a stolen Toyota Hilux into the Sparkbrook store front, narrowly missing the shop owner.

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In dramatic scenes caught on camera on March 3 last year, the weapon-wielding quintet bagged nearly £300,000. All five were later jailed, with Trevor handed 14 and a half years for his role – alongside the activated 18-month suspended sentence for harassment and multiple breaches of a non-molestation order against Rebecca.

Now, the 44-year-old mum has broken her silence to tell her ‘side of the story’ – and how she finally had ‘justice’ when he was locked away. Speaking to BirminghamLive after rebuilding her life – and regaining her confidence through art – she said: “This is where I am now, this is about me being a survivor.”

Rebecca had been in family court waiting for Trevor to turn up when he was arrested over the Ladypool Road robbery. “We were all waiting for him and his representative came and said ‘Trevor’s been arrested this morning’. I was just shocked,” she recalled.

“I didn’t feel they did take it [the domestic abuse against me] seriously enough. If they had, he wouldn’t have been on the streets to commit that robbery.

“It was an absolute relief when he was jailed, I felt like a little bit of justice had happened; it is justice for me. He’ll always scare me, but I do feel a little bit safer knowing he’s in jail.”

During the relationship, Rebecca had tried to leave but says, amid alleged threats to her family, she was “worried” and “just couldn’t see a way out.”

“Trevor was a really charming, larger than life character, but then there was his other side…,” she added. “He’d be overly nice, he really made me feel like I was really special.

“But then he’d kick off, he would kick, slap and spit at me. It was absolutely horrific, he’d smash the house up, he used to call me the most horrific names, over the stupidest things.

“Back then I had no confidence, he took away all my self-esteem, all my confidence. I just thought ‘where will I go? He’ll find me’ I was worried for my family.”

When she would try to leave, he would repeatedly breach the non-molestation order. And at the time, support services for victims in abusive relationships “weren’t as on it as they are now,” she says.

“He just kept breaching the non-molestation order and threatening to kill himself. I was scared, he just absolutely put the fear of God in me because I know what he’s capable of.

“He would just turn up at the house, he would keep phoning, phoning, phoning. He kept coming round and kicking off, I just kept reporting him.”

When he was handed an 18-month suspended sentence at court for the crimes, she was left thinking, “he’s still out there, he’s not going to leave me alone.” Police then became instrumental in her fleeing the relationship – with a warning to leave everything for a refuge after officers received worrying ‘intelligence’ about Trevor.

During recent family court proceedings in 2020, Trevor was handed a 13 year non-molestation order – one of the longest ever issued in the UK, Rebecca said. “We had a judgement against him, the judge said he was devious, dangerous and deceptive. He said ‘he needs to be kept away from Rebecca at all times,'” she recalled.

After opportunities offered in the refuge, Rebecca has since ’empowered herself’ by completing a foundation art course – ending with a powerful and hard-hitting final year exhibition. The show, displayed at Wolverhampton School of Art until June 23, focuses on the devastating impacts of domestic abuse on women and children alike.

Praising support from the officer who kept her going through the court case, alongside Staffordshire Women’s Aid and the University, she said: “Each year, we were going through court and it felt like it would never end, but I was doing something I loved.”

“Going forward professionally, I hope to work with other groups of women. I want to help empower women, inspire women. If I can do it, then they can do it. They have got that strength, they just need the right support.”

She urged anyone who believes they might be in an abusive relationship to seek support, starting with a simple phone call to Women’s Aid or a friend. “You can’t just pack a bag and leave, it’s not that simple. You need to plan.

“You’ve got to keep yourself safe as well – you need to phone police so they have a log of any incidents,” she added. “Those signs you see at the beginning, they’re a taste of things to come, it only gets worse.”

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