Woman forced to strip and pray by partner, court hears

Antonio Villafane, also known as Anthony Manson, arrives at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday

A woman was forced by her partner to strip naked and stand outside on a dark winter's night and pray, a court heard.

Sally Ann Norman said Antonio Villafane, 68, also know as Anthony Manson, ordered her from their home near Tintern, Monmouthshire.

In an interview with police, Mrs Norman, 64, said she was ordered to take her clothes off.

Mr Villafane, on trial at Cardiff Crown Court, denies coercive or controlling behaviour, unlawful wounding, actual bodily harm and fraud.

"He told me to take everything off and go outside and pray," Mrs Norman said.

"I was shivering, it was dark. Eventually he let me back in. My teeth were chattering."

Mrs Norman said the couple were followers of Sufi Islam, and that her Islamic name was Khadejah, and his was Ibrahim.

She said the couple underwent a Sufi marriage - which has no legal status - about 15 months into their relationship.

She told police she did not know about the wedding until the day of the ceremony.

Mrs Norman, divorced from a previous marriage, said she was afraid of him and that Mr Villafane claimed to have been in the SAS, but she did not know if this was true.

"I think he told me that to intimidate me," she said.

Mrs Norman told detectives Mr Villafane pulled her hair out then told her: "You may as well cut it all off now."

'I will kill your family'

Giving evidence by video link, Mrs Norman told the court Mr Villafane admitted harassment in 2018.

Mrs Norman said he visited her parents in Scotland and rang their home repeatedly, forcing them to unplug it.

Martha Smith-Higgins, defending, asked Mrs Norman why she did not tell Scottish police about being attacked by Mr Villafane when they were investigating the harassment complaint.

Mrs Norman said he told her: "I will kill your children, I will kill your family and then I will come and finish you off."

The court heard Mr Villafane has a personality disorder.

Mrs Norman said she was not aware of that when they met.

Ms Smith-Higgins said Mrs Norman wore the hijab as a Sufi follower and was not forced to by Mr Villafane.

The trial is being held at Cardiff Crown Court

Mrs Norman replied: "He did force me to continue wearing it when I didn't want to."

He took away her mobile phones, Mrs Norman said, and limited contact with her family.

When they met in 2015 she said she had been in an unhappy marriage for 34 years.

Within months Mr Villafane and Mrs Norman were living together in a van.

After receiving a divorce settlement of £280,000 this was used to buy land, ponies, a gypsy caravan and vehicles including 4x4s and a VW Beetle, the court was told.

"He would take out a lot of my money in cash," she said.

Mrs Norman said she suffers from Lupus and that Mr Villafane would not let her take her medication or see a doctor.

"He said he had healed me," she said.

'He forced me to wear a hijab'

Mrs Norman left Mr Villafane in summer 2022.

On a 4 August medical assessment she ticked a box indicating Mr Villafane had not threatened to kill her.

After Mrs Norman left Mr Villafane, the court heard, she looked at his social media posts.

In one he was with another woman.

Quizzed if she was jealous, she said: "Yes."

Miss Smith-Higgins said: "He did not assault you. He did not drown you. He didn't use a walking stick to hit you, he did not jump on your back."

Mrs Norman told the court: "He did."

Miss Smith-Higgins said: "He did not control you or what you were doing."

Mrs Norman said: "He did."

The case continues.