Man Allegedly Killed By Girlfriend With Broken Dinner Plate Was Silent About Abuse, Friends Say

A 50-year-old man whose partner allegedly killed him by using a broken dinner plate, had "stayed silent" about the abuse he faced, said his friends.

Sarah Lewis allegedly attacked her partner Paul Lavelle with a jagged shard of a broken dinner plate during a drunken dispute at his Birkenhead home in England in May 2017, reported Mirror. She left him to slowly bleed to death and was jailed for seven and a half years in January 2018.

After his death, the Paul Lavelle Foundation was set up by his friends to help encourage more men to speak about their experiences of domestic abuse.

Paul Gladwell, co-founder of the foundation, told the Liverpool Echo that they lost their friend. He called Lavelle a "brilliant person." His friends wanted to keep his memory alive but also, they asked the question as to "why he didn’t tell us what was going on." Gladwell said that they found out later on that it wasn’t an "isolated incident, so we started wanting to raise awareness and getting men to speak out about being abused."

Eventually, they set up a service where they are helping "men come out and speak about their problems and supporting them through court cases." He shared that they are helping men not to "choose the silent option, which is what Paul chose." In April 2018, the Paul Lavelle Foundation became a registered charity. It provides various vital services including Healthy Relationship Education workshops in schools as well as community sports and well-being groups.

Members of the foundation cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats in August 2019. Their next challenge will see them ride from Oxton to The Battlefields of the Somme in France. Gladwell said that he and others always wanted to go to the Somme and pay their respects and then they lost "Paul so we thought we should ride there to raise awareness and raise some money for the foundation."

About 41 riders will cycle the 440-mile route over four days. The money raised will be split between the foundation and Alder Hey children’s hospital. Gladwell believes that his late friend would be happy to know that so much good is being done on his behalf. Gladwell and the team will set out on their ride on June 8.