My daughter Julie was bereft.

She’d just split from her partner Jimmy, the father of her two children, Tyler, nine, and Ari, two. 

‘You can move in with me,’ I told her without hesitation.

It was so nice having my daughter and two grandchildren all under my roof.  

Me and Julie had always been close. I was a tomboy but somehow I’d ended up with a daughter who was a gorgeous girly girl who loved hair and makeup.

She was also very protective with a strong sense of right and wrong.

Back when she was 11, the school principal had called to say he’d given her detention.

It turned out she’d confronted a bully who had pulled away a chair a smaller girl was about to sit on.

'Me and Julie had always been close. I'd always been a tomboy, but she was a gorgeous girly girl, who loved hair and makeup'

‘Me and Julie had always been close. I’d always been a tomboy, but she was a gorgeous girly girl, who loved hair and makeup’

When she moved in with me, Julie was feeling sad and vulnerable after splitting from the father of her children

When she moved in with me, Julie was feeling sad and vulnerable after splitting from the father of her children

She told the bully, ‘You do not want to fight me,’ and then poured milk over her head.

‘I don’t want to punish Julie, but I have to,’ the principal laughed. I was proud of her.

Now she was living with me and she hadn’t changed a bit. She was still my best friend.

A few months on from her heartbreak, I encouraged Julie to have some nights out with her friends. 

One night at a nightclub, she met Michael Rosenmund, who was a doorman. I took an instant dislike to him.

Frankly, he looked like a thug and he refused to make eye contact with me whenever I spoke to him.

I knew Julie was feeling sad and vulnerable after splitting from Jimmy, but this man was a mistake – and I told her so. 

‘You’re overreacting,’ Julie sighed. But I insisted he was no good.

Julie (pictured with her son) was a brilliant mum to her two kids

Julie (pictured with her son) was a brilliant mum to her two kids 

The moment I received a phone call from Julie's ex, I knew Michael Rosenmund (pictured in his mugshot) had hurt her

The moment I received a phone call from Julie’s ex, I knew Michael Rosenmund (pictured in his mugshot) had hurt her 

‘He wants what I want,’ she protested. ‘He wants a house and family, the white picket fence and all that.’

Against my wishes, Julie decided to move in with him.

One day when Julie was at work, Michael came over to my place to collect some of her belongings.

When he couldn’t find some of the things he was looking for, he lost his temper and started punching the walls. 

‘Get rid of this guy,’ I texted Julie.

A few weeks later, she called me to say I’d been right – she needed to get away from him. She sounded scared.

I was just so relieved she’d finally seen through him.

Julie’s best friend Geri’s wedding was coming up, so I was glad she would have something positive to focus on.

She was going to be maid of honour and had started to plan the bachelorette party.

On the night of the party, a huge limousine turned up to pick the girls up – Julie’s idea.

‘I love you,’ she said as she waved goodbye and got in the car, full of decorations and games. Meanwhile, I headed off to work. 

The next morning, Jimmy, Julie’s ex and the father of her two children, called me. We didn’t speak too often since their split, so I knew immediately something was wrong.

‘Cheryl, you need to get to the hospital,’ he said, trying his best to sound calm.

‘Julie’s not okay…’

Panic took hold and my knees buckled. Somehow in that instant, I knew Michael had hurt her.

At the hospital, I discovered Julie was on life support with serious head injuries.

When I went in to see her, there were wires stuck all over her swollen and bruised body. She appeared to have a horrific gravel rash down one side.

Most of her ribs were fractured, both lungs were punctured, and there were tears in her liver and spleen. 

‘We don’t know if she’ll pull through,’ a doctor told me as I wept.

Then the police showed up. They explained Michael had been the one to call the ambulance to Julie’s house that morning, and that paramedics had found her naked and unconscious on the front lawn.

Michael had told officers they’d argued, then as he fled to get away from her, she had followed him and slipped on a step.

But his story soon changed.

He said he’d actually run to his car and pulled away as Julie banged on the windows. Somehow, he claimed, she had got caught and ended up dragged under the wheels.

‘Why won’t he just tell the truth?’ I cried.

Meanwhile, Julie’s body began shutting down.

As she fought for her life, she suffered 30 strokes. After a week, we had no other option but to take her off life support. I held her hand as she slipped away from me.

It was the saddest moment of my life. She was just 27.

Julie was cremated and more than 1,800 people came to her memorial service.

This can’t be happening. It can’t be real, I kept thinking. The rest is a complete blur.

Two weeks after Julie’s death, Geri got married and there was an empty chair for her best friend at the reception.

A month later, Michael was charged with reckless driving causing death and manslaughter with a vehicle.

At a preliminary hearing, Michael’s call to the emergency services was played. I listened, utterly distressed.

There was a gurgling in the background as he spoke and I just knew it was Julie calling out for me.

She must have been so scared and in so much pain.  

I screamed and security guards had to lead me out of the court.

On the day of the trial, we were told Michael had been offered a plea deal, as prosecutors were worried the more serious charges wouldn’t stick.

So he pleaded no contest to a moving violation causing death.

I erupted when I learned that, thanks to time served, he would spend just six months behind bars followed by two years’ probation.

He was released the day before the third anniversary of Julie’s death and, as far as the record is concerned, it was simply an accident.

I have run into Michael in the street more than 20 times since he got out of jail. He scuttles away like a cockroach.

Since then, I have become a campaigner against domestic violence.

I want her daughter Ari, a sweet and pretty girly girl like her mother, to grow up in a world where women’s lives are worth more than six months in jail.

And I’m going to make sure make sure wherever Michael Rosenmund goes or whatever he does, everyone knows what he did.

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