A grieving mother has revealed how her ex launched a ‘savage attack’ on her at their late baby daughter’s gravesite.
Charlotte Lewis, 24, laid bare the brutal ordeal which left her injured and nearly unable to walk as she was kicked and dragged around the cemetery where her little girl Lottie was laid to rest.
Using his steel-toe capped boots, Josh Kelly, 23, beat her down, weeks after threatening to kill her, steal their child’s ashes and burn the grave.
In June, Kelly was jailed for four years and eight months at Bristol Crown Court – and handed a ten-year restraining order.
Now Charlotte has spoken about the ‘torture’ she endured over the last four years, with her ‘controlling’ partner.
The couple first met in 2021 via Snapchat, and while she was initially not interested, she was ‘love bombed’ by Kelly, who showered her with gifts and compliments.
It didn’t take long for issues to arise, however, as they had a huge argument after only two months of dating.
Kelly threatened to harm himself if they didn’t reconcile and reluctantly, Charlotte found herself back together with him.
Charlotte Lewis, 24, (pictured) laid bare the brutal ordeal which left her injured as she was kicked and dragged around the cemetery where her little girl Lottie was laid to rest
Using his steel-toe capped boots, Josh Kelly, 23, beat her down, weeks after threatening to kill her, steal their child’s ashes and burn the grave
She says his ‘control’ only ‘worsened’ as he would ‘often threaten to beat up her family if she didn’t spend time with him’.
‘He accused me of cheating constantly and would get jealous if I spent any time with friends, family or my puppy,’ Charlotte added.
‘And made me have my location on and FaceTime him whenever we weren’t together. It was exhausting.’
Soon, Kelly began turning up outside Charlotte’s workplace until she’d finished her shift and bombarding her with hundreds of texts a day.
‘If I confronted him or told him “no” he’d strangle me all whilst claiming he loved me,’ Charlotte revealed. ‘I was constantly punished for everything I did. I felt trapped and like I had nowhere to turn.’
He began demanding she screen record her phone, opening up every app to ensure she wasn’t ‘speaking to other boys’.
Even then, Kelly had accused her of faking the footage. In another instance, he had also hidden Charlotte’s contraceptive pill.
In February 2022, she finally had enough and reported him to the police. He was given a caution and for a month, Kelly ceased contact.
The couple first met in 2021 via Snapchat , and while she was initially not interested, she was ‘love bombed’ by Kelly, who showered her with gifts and compliments
In June, Kelly was jailed for four years and eight months at Bristol Crown Court – and handed a ten-year restraining order
But in April that year, Charlotte discovered she was 11 weeks pregnant – and reluctantly, told her ex, as well as allowing him to attend a gender scan at 18 weeks.
However, at the appointment they discovered that their baby girl’s stomach was high up in her body.
While Charlotte waited for more tests, Charlotte says Kelly ‘flew off the handle’ and ‘threatened to “stab the baby” if it didn’t look like him’.
‘I couldn’t believe how vile he was being,’ she added.
At 25 weeks, Charlotte saw another specialist in London, who confirmed her unborn baby didn’t have a diaphragm and was also diagnosed with rare genetic condition, Pallister-Killian syndrome.
This can cause disabilities, feeding and breathing problems as well as developmental issues – and the expecting mother was informed that her little girl was unlikely to survive.
Meanwhile, Kelly had resurfaced and wanted to do ‘memory making’ with her and the baby.
In November 2022, Lottie was born full-term – she survived for one hour and 45 minutes.
Now, Charlotte has said that she can finally ‘properly grieve her daughter’. Pictured today, aged 24
After this, the parents spent time in a hospice with their late baby girl.
‘For five days I got to be a mum,’ Charlotte continued. ‘But Josh was sulking that the attention wasn’t on him.
‘Complained that my mum was spending too much time with her. I tried to ignore him as I just wanted to be with Lottie.
‘But his mood was making it hard to enjoy my time with her.’
Afterwards, while Charlotte visited Lottie’s grave every day, Kelly didn’t bother going once – and even threatened to steal her daughter’s ashes and burn her grave.
May 2023 brought the tragic six month anniversary of Lottie’s passing.
Kelly manipulated Charlotte into allowing him to accompany her to the grave to place flowers.
‘I didn’t want to deprive him as her father, so I agreed,’ she explained.
May 2023 brought the tragic six month anniversary of Lottie’s passing. Charlotte pictured when she was still in the relationship
However, Charlotte said that as soon as they arrived at the cemetery, Kelly ‘kicked off’ after she received a text – and ‘flew into a rage’ when she asked him to leave.
‘It was like a dark mist descended over him,’ she recalled. ‘He lunged at me and started kicking me in the back and legs with his boots.
‘My body throbbed with pain as I curled into a ball. I screamed at him to stop, but he carried on.
‘He even stamped on my ankle leaving me barely able to walk. It was horrendous.’
Afterwards, Kelly dragged Charlotte back to his car. Five hours later, at 10pm, he finally agreed to drop her home.
Three months on, in August that year, with the encouragement of her best friend, Charlotte reported him to the police and a restraining order was put in place while an investigation was opened.
This February, six other women came forward to report his abusive behaviour – and four months later, he was put in prison.
‘Finding out about the others broke my heart,’ Charlotte admitted. ‘Yet I finally felt validated. At court I read my victim impact statement.
‘As I spoke, I looked at him. He was powerless to stop me and that felt incredible. He cried when I read about Lottie but I knew it was crocodile tears.’
Now, Charlotte said, she can ‘properly grieve her daughter’.
‘I’ve been silenced for too long and want others experiencing abuse to have hope,’ she continued. ‘Like me, they can feel free and safe again.’
‘The last four years was torture,’ she continued. ‘Josh controlled every aspect of my life.
‘But the image of him standing over me, beating me on the floor while I stared at Lottie’s grave will be forever engraved in my brain.
‘The amount of physical and mental pain I experienced was indescribable. No mother should ever experience such violence at her baby’s resting place. Josh is a monster – and I want everyone to know it.’
