My jealous ex brutally attacked me after I spent ‘too much time’ with my dying father
Sitting by her father’s bedside as he took his last breaths, Shannon Mullan couldn’t fully focus on her grief.
Shannon’s thoughts were instead fixated on the fact that her ex-partner had been thrown into a violent rage just three days earlier just because she wanted to spend time with her dying father.
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The cruel Phillip Hill told her: ‘Your father had sixty years. You should spend your time with me.”
In the horrific attack, which took place just 72 hours before Shannon’s father Ben died, Hill strangled the mother of his children and doused her in boiling hot gravy.
As Hill begins a prison sentence, 29-year-old mother-of-four Shannon recalls: “I was so close to my father and I wanted to care for him in his dying days.
‘But every time I took him to the hospital or went to see him, Phillip complained. He was so controlling; he didn’t like me doing something he had nothing to do with.
“It’s such a relief to have him out of my life, but I will never forgive him for ruining my last days with my father.”
Shannon and Hill met five years ago on a night out in Mold, Wales, and Shannon says she liked him from the start.
He showered her with gifts and bonded with her son from a previous relationship, as well as her family.
“Philip was generous and kind, he took me out, bought me flowers, chocolates and new dresses,” says Shannon.
“He bought me perfumes and make-up and he booked nice restaurants and days out. He treated me so well. I had a young son and he was great with him.
“He had his own place, a good job as a furniture maker, and he seemed like the perfect man to me.
“As a single mother, I wasn’t used to anyone putting me first, and that was really nice. My parents met him, and they loved him too.”
The couple had three children together.
But it was during her pregnancy with their second child that Shannon noticed a change in Hill.
She explains: “He became irritable and fussy.
“He didn’t like me seeing my friends and family and I became very lonely and isolated without really realizing it.
“Phillip had a lot of rules, and one of them was that I had to spend a certain amount of time alone with him every day.
“It wasn’t always practical; we had four young children, and his demands became very heavy.
“He drank heavily and then lost his job. I felt like I couldn’t handle it any longer.”
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It was March 2023, when Shannon’s father was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.
Shannon wanted to be there for her father, who was already worried about his daughter’s partner.
She says: “I have a very good relationship with my family, I live on the same street as my parents and saw them every day, often behind Phillip’s back.
“Dad was brilliant, he did school runs and babysitting. I trusted him and we got along so well. We had the same sense of humor.
“Dad saw before I did that Phillip wasn’t good for me; he noticed that I was quiet and withdrawn. But he tried not to say too much because he didn’t want to cause me any trouble.”
Shannon was able to break away from Hill shortly after her father was diagnosed, but he was persistent.
“After Dad came home from the hospital with the diagnosis, I went to my parents, and we were all shocked,” she says.
“But even that day, Phillip called me and insisted I go home because he needed me.
“I was shocked and asked him to leave shortly afterwards. My parents were relieved.”
Phillip started complaining about me taking Dad to his hospital appointments
Shannon Mullan
The couple was separated for nine months, but in early 2024 they decided to give their relationship another try.
Shannon wanted to keep her family together while caring for her father.
She says: ‘Phillip promised he had changed, and I wanted to give our family a chance, for the children.
“By then Dad was very bad. The cancer had spread and his treatment was not working. It was stressful and I helped where I could.
‘Phillip was fine for a few weeks, but then he started complaining about me taking Dad to his hospital appointments or running errands for him.
“He didn’t even like me messaging him because he said I was on my phone and not fully present to him.
“My mother is disabled, my two brothers work full-time and so I was the only one in the neighborhood with a car. Dad needed me.”
In August this year, Ben, 66, reached his final days, but as her father’s condition worsened, Hill made life even harder for Shannon.
HOW TO GET HELP:
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Contact charities for help, including Women’s Aid’s live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarize yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without saying anything, but calling “55” instead.
- Make sure you always have some money with you, including change for a phone booth or bus ticket.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try going to a lower-risk part of the house, such as where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where knives or other weapons are likely to be present. Avoid rooms where you could become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you could be locked in a closet or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline .org.uk.
Women’s Aid offers a live chat service – Available on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
You can also call the free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Three days before Ben died, Hill carried out the brutal attack.
“I had to pick up a prescription for Dad before the pharmacy closed,” Shannon remembers that night.
‘We had cooked a roast dinner and Phillip became furious and said I was thinking more about my father than him and that I should stay at home with my family.
“He threw a pan of hot gravy on me, but I was so focused on getting to the pharmacy that I just changed and ran.”
Attached to the floor
When Shannon returned home, things escalated.
Phillip again accused her of neglecting him and pinned her to the kitchen floor with his hands around her neck.
She says: ‘He shouted that I had been with my father for years and that I had to prioritize him and the family.
“He threw me against the kitchen cupboards, then pushed me to the floor and held my arms at my sides.
“He had his hands around my neck and he was choking me. For a few moments I thought he was going to kill me, it was so scary.
“When he let go, I tried to wriggle free. He suddenly seemed to come to his senses and I was able to run away.”
Shannon rushed to a neighbor’s house for help and in the meantime it was Philip himself who called the police and admitted what he had done.
Shannon adds, “He was arrested, but I could barely think about it. I was so angry about Dad, who had really deteriorated.”
At her dying father’s bedside, Shannon was distracted by calls from police and social services.
She says: “Even then, in his final moments, Phillip managed to make it all about him. I can never forgive him for that. It broke my heart to lose my father.
“It was horrible planning a funeral and dealing with my grief, and having to appear in court.
“But despite everything, I’m glad I got through this.”
A ‘terrible image’
Phillip Hill, 33, appeared at Mold Crown Court last month and was jailed for 15 months after previously admitting common assault, strangulation with intent and assault by beating.
He was also given a five-year restraining order.
Prosecutor Anna Price said Hill “seemed to have a problem with the amount of attention” Shannon gave her terminally ill father instead of him.
During sentencing, Judge Rhys Rowlands added: “What an absolutely disgusting image. He is aware that his partner is dealing with the tragic end of her father’s life.
“I’m really shocked at the way people can behave sometimes.
“She must have been terribly vulnerable and under enormous amounts of stress.”
Shannon says that while she can never get those last moments with her father back, she knows he is proud of how she has moved on with her life since then.
She adds: “I miss Dad every day, but I know he would be proud to see me interacting well with my children and looking to the future.”
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