Canvey cancer patient on abuse after ex-partner jailed

Kaleigh Gorringe, 39, from Canvey, was with her ex-partner Joe Wingett, 39, for two months when she was diagnosed with b-cell lymphoma.

Wingett initially appeared supportive and even proposed to the former support worker.

But Kaleigh quickly discovered that Wingett was not the man she thought he was. He repeatedly strangled her - once by wrapping a charging cable round her neck.

Survivor - Kaleigh Gorringe without her wig during the cancer treatment

While she was going through treatment he ridiculed her by tearing off her wig and saying she looked like a "witch".

Kaleigh bravely secretly recorded his outbursts and eventually found the courage to go the police and he was arrested in March this year.

Wingett, of East Street, Rochford, was found guilty of intentional strangulation, assault by beating and coercive or controlling behaviour, and was sentenced to 45 months in jail at Southend Crown Court in October.

Kaleigh said: "I would turn up to radiotherapy covered in bruises.

"For years, I lived in fear. Fear of his anger, his fists, his words, his demands.

"The abuse has affected every part of my life: my health, my finances, my confidence, my relationships, and my ability to feel safe."

Severe - injuries Kaleigh Gorringe sustained during the abusive relationship

Kaleigh met Wingett back in June 2022 on Instagram, and said their relationship initially felt like a "fairy tale".

She said: "I genuinely believed that I had found someone who understood me and who I could build a future with."

In August 2022 she was diagnosed with the same type of cancer she had lost her father to as a teenager.

She said: "My life changed dramatically, and I faced one of the most frightening periods of my life.

"During the early stages of my illness, he appeared supportive and I believed I could rely on him.

"Looking back, I realised I was fighting for my life and the abuse was already beginning."

Injury - Kaleigh began recording the abuse

Speaking to Talk to the Press, Kaleigh said in the months that followed her diagnosis, the abuse she faced at Wingett's hands just went from bad to worse.

However, at this point, Wingett had already proposed and had Kaleigh under his spell - just two months after meeting.

"He proposed when I just left the hospital," she explained.

"He said to me, 'when you love somebody, you just know, and I know you're it for me.'"

Despite the ring on her finger, she was regularly beaten and strangled by Wingett while undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Kaleigh continued: "The abuse escalated, and at a time when I was at my most vulnerable, he would compare me to exes and put my body down.

"The abuse became increasingly severe and one incident not long after leaving hospital for treatment, he pushed me and I ended up needing walking aids."

Abusive - Joe Wingett (right) with Kaleigh Gorringe while the pair were in a relationship

In one horrifying incident, Kaleigh remembers Wingett pulling the wig off her head, after she lost her hair during cancer treatment, and saying she looked like "a witch".

She said: "He would humiliate me by pulling off my wig. First that happened at home, and later in public.

"I remember sitting in a waiting room for radiotherapy when a nurse discreetly handed me an information leaflet for victim support. Another patient witnessed his behaviour towards me and told a nurse.

"That moment remains with me, because it shows that other people could see what I was experiencing, even when I was trying to hide it."

Wingett would often grow angry at Kaleigh for the most minor things, and would fly off the handle at any given moment - even once attempting to strangle her with a phone charger.

Speaking out - Kaleigh was undergoing treatment when Wingett repeatedly strangled and humiliated her

Recounting their relationship, Kaleigh said: "He covered my mouth with his hand, strangled me, punched me, kicked me, bit me, dragged me across the floor, caused bleeds, spat on me, threw water over me, locked me outside, made me beg to come in, and at times I was not even allowed to sleep in my own bed.

"When he strangled me, I screamed for help, but he got tighter around my neck.

"The last thing I remember before blacking out was seeing his eyes cold and black. He no longer looked like the man I loved."

Kaleigh was isolated from her friends and family amid cancer treatment, leaving her with only Wingett to rely upon.

'Monster'- Joe Wingett was not the man Kaleigh thought he was

She said: "During the time I was undergoing treatment, I rarely saw friends because they could not see me taking the abuse I went through and yet chose to stay with him.

"I chose to stay because I really believed the man I had met would return and was made to feel, because I had cancer, it was my fault he acted this way."

After entering remission in March 2023, Kaleigh was still stuck in a cycle of abuse.

She said: "I was severely depressed with being told how his exes were better than me. When I started to feel better with my hair growing back, he would say how bad it looked and called me fat continuously.

"He would say how lucky I was to have him, as anybody else would have left me because I had cancer.

"I lived in constant fear, but also the struggle between my heart and my head was a constant battle."

Wingett often slept with knives and would stab holes in their bed when angry.

Fearing for her life, Kaleigh took secret recordings to document the abuse she was facing.

In one recording, heard at Southend Crown Court, Wingett verbally abuses Kaleigh while driving.

“If I were *****, you wouldn't have any teeth or a spine, mate," he raged in one recording. "You're lucky you're with me, you little ****!"

When Kaleigh eventually went to the police, Wingett was arrested. However, she went back to him on numerous occasions as she believes they were "trauma bonded".

She said: "Despite everything that had happened, part of me still hoped he would change back to the man I now know he pretended to be.

"I had called the police through the relationship, but when they turned up, he told me to tell them that I was depressed and having an episode because I had cancer.

"I truly wanted to believe that the man I fell in love with was there and that we could be a family."

Kaleigh said she has been left in £10,000 worth of debt - as she claims he maxed out her credit cards, and convinced her to take out loans.

"This debt is a constant reminder of the abuse I suffered," she said.

Joe Wingett was found guilty of intentional strangulation, assault by beating and coercive or controlling behaviour, and was sentenced to 45 months in jail.

In a statement Kaleigh read out in court, she said: "I now understand that I stayed because I loved Mr Wingett and I believe he loved me in the beginning and I was forever mourning what once was.

"I now know that Mr Wingett is incapable of love and Mr Wingett, I feel, loves you for what you can give him at the time.

"I offered him unconditional love and every opportunity to build a better life for himself. In return, I was left traumatised, frightened and broken.

"He is a monster and I don't know how he can actually live with what he has done."