Overview
- The trial at Chester Crown Court concerns two charges: controlling and coercive behaviour said to have run from December 2015 to August 2023 and an alleged suffocation attempt during an Easter 2023 family holiday in the Lake District.
- In a police interview played to jurors the complainant described Robb pulling a pillow over her face until she began to feel she could not breathe and later saying she feared she would ‘end up dead’ if she stayed.
- Prosecutors have outlined a series of earlier alleged incidents reported by the complainant, including being grabbed by the neck, pushed into French windows, punched during pregnancy, shoved into a banister and having items thrown at her.
- Robb, who competed for Great Britain in the 800m and now works as a surgeon, denies the suffocation and coercive control charges and has told police and the court that his wife was the controlling partner.
- The case draws public attention because both parties are doctors and Robb is a former Olympian, and its outcome will turn on contested witness accounts and the jury’s assessment of the police interview and other evidence.