A Cambridge PhD student whose fellow academic former fiancé was cleared of punching her in a fit of rage has hit back – insisting she WAS the victim of domestic violence.
Zoology student Sophia Cooke, 26, had accused Cambridge lecturer Dr Matthew Baron of common assault but a court cleared him of the charge.
Today it emerged that Ms Cooke has since written a withering blog about their relationship and the case in which she again accused Mr Baron of abusing her.
Zoology student Sophia Cooke, 26, (right) had accused Cambridge lecturer Dr Matthew Baron (left) of common assault but a court cleared him of the charge
Although she does not identify him by name, she also included a voice recording of Dr Baron she says is proof of him being ‘very emotionally abusive.’
Dr Baron described Ms Cooke as ‘unspeakably evil’ for publishing the blog and said he would take legal advice.
Miss Cooke included a voice recording of fellow Cambridge academic Matthew Baron in her ‘Victims Can Be Strong’ page.
She claims it includes an admission by Dr Baron that he had hit her.
Miss Cooke (right) included a voice recording of Dr Baron (left) in her ‘Victims Can Be Strong’ page
Dr Baron described Ms Cooke as ‘unspeakably evil’ for publishing the blog and said he would take legal advice
The recording was not heard in the trial where magistrates branded her account ‘not credible and inconsistent’ in September.
Dr Baron, who was cleared of hitting her after she admitted cheating on him in a scientific field trip on February 12, has branded the blog an ‘unspeakably evil’ attempt for her to ruin his blossoming academic career.
He was on Friday seeking legal advice to sue her and bring about criminal charges against her for using ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’ saying that he was himself was a domestic abuse victim.
In the blog of the relationship up to the trial, she wrote: ‘Having declined to comment at the time, I have now decided to share my story, in the hope that it might help others to understand domestic abuse better and to recognise the signs, which can be very subtle at first, both in their own relationships and those of others.
‘Only the incident on 12th February was tried and evidence of previous assaults (including the voice recording) was not considered.
‘It is not a one-sided rant at my abuser; it is an account of what happened, including my own behaviour, even when I was not proud of my actions.’
Dr Baron was on Friday seeking legal advice to sue Ms Cooke and bring about criminal charges against her for using ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’ saying that he was himself was a domestic abuse victim
She has, however, declined to comment further ‘as I have included in my blog everything that I would like to say at this stage’.
Dr Baron, who has written four academic papers after passed his final exams and being granted his PhD in marine palaeontology – dinosaurs of the sea – four days after the trial, denied the accusations of assaults and domestic abuse.
He said: ‘I want to be absolutely explicitly clear that I deny all of that in no uncertain terms.
‘It is beyond unspeakably evil, what it actually is.
‘I’m currently in the middle of applying for jobs… I cannot help but think this is a deliberate attempt to try to wreck my career further.
‘We thought the clear not guilty verdict was enough. We didn’t want to do anything against her but at the moment it looks like she’s leaving us no choice.
‘It’s slanderous, it’s libellous to imply guilt when someone has cleared their name, it’s defamation of character, me and my family are going to speak to the police and speak to legal advice to see how we can go about it.’
He accused her of posting the blog because of the recent media coverage of sexual abuse by high-profile politicians and actors: ‘She is really using that to her advantage as much as possible and that’s absolutely despicable.
‘This girl has played a victim of a serious offence to get sympathy and attack her former partner completely cynically.
Matthew Baron, 26 from Cambridge pictured with dad Cliff Baron
‘It is absolutely abominable that she is currently using the trauma and worry of real victims of violence to further her own lies and her own attempts to have a go at me.
‘As someone who has been on the receiving end of an abusive relationship and is having to deal with it, I would strongly encourage victims to go to the police with their cases and seek support from friends and family.’
On the vocal recording where she alleges he admitted assaulting her previously, he said: ‘It sounds like I’m admitting it but it’s not, it’s absolutely completely false.
‘It’s in a position in the blog which makes its appear to be the proof, the smoking gun – it’s the complete opposite of that.
‘I had no idea I was being recorded, that’s something else we are going to have to speak to the police and seek legal advice on.
‘It’s harassment and slander and libel and possibly illegal distribution of my voice without consent.
‘The whole thing was thrown out (by police), the controlling and coercive – that material shouldn’t be any where public.
‘It’s been completely reworked and edited and it’s completely misrepresentative about what was said, it’s had huge sections cut of it.
‘In her version of events she says “Matt then slaps himself” which is absolutely ridiculous.
‘We are going to have her ideally charged with an offence and I hope when that comes out people will see that she has been horribly and brutally and very cynically and calculatedly used the suffering of real people and of women in particular to put herself under that umbrella and create her own nonsense.’
He was arrested on suspicion of common assault, criminal damage and coercive or controlling behaviour at Christ’s College on February 15.
Officers questioned him over the domestic abuse allegation but he was only convicted of smashing Miss Cooke’s car stereo during the alleged assault.
The comprehensive school-educated academic said he was donating ‘a couple of hundred of pounds’ he was paid for media interviews following his trial to a charity for domestic abuse victims.
He added: ‘I’ve had some big successes and I’m right on the verge of getting my life on track.
‘I’m so beyond done with it, I’ve a new partner now and we are happy.’
Pictured: Part of the blog post written by Sophia Cooke, 26