Widow: Death of man killed by couple has ‘destroyed’ family

Louise Mouat, 35, said she had to break the devastating news to her now-nine-year-old son Alfie that his father, Gary Mouat, had died and tell her husband’s parents.

Mr Mouat, 36, was found dead inside his home in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in July last year after being drugged by Adina Mihai, 31, and her partner Madalin Dumitru, 30, after going online to arrange paid sex.

The pair later pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Mouat and another man, Malcolm King, 80, from Bagendon, and were jailed at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday, August 13.

The couple gave their victims alcohol laced with gamma-butyrolactone - knocking them unconscious - so they could take money from them.

Oxford Crown Court heard Mr Mouat and his wife ran the family glazing business, which he had taken over from his recently-retired father Trevor.

Addressing the defendants in court, Mrs Mouat, who had been with her husband for 14 years, said: “He had everything going for him: a happy home, a successful business and a doting son.

“On July 13 last year, our lives changed forever because of what you did.

“I had to tell my eight-year-old son that his daddy had died.

“Someone who should have been around to watch him grow up was gone.

“I will never forget the scream that came from him when he realised his daddy was gone forever.

“He dropped to the floor and begged me to say it wasn’t true.

“We drove back holding hands the whole way home.

“The nights that followed were the worst nights of my life.

“I sat with him while he cried and cried until he eventually cried himself to sleep.

“He begged me over and over for the opportunity to see his daddy one last time, to get one last daddy cuddle.

“Not only did I have to tell my little boy his daddy was dead, but I also later had to tell him that someone caused him intentional harm and he had been killed.”

Mrs Mouat said she had been widowed at 34 and now found herself a single parent and businessowner.

“My son has slept in my bed every night since this has happened,” she said.

“To start with, I couldn’t even leave the room without him asking where I was going and telling me to come back quickly.

“He is still so scared that something bad will happen to me.

“He wakes up in the night still now having nightmares about what happened.

“He tells me that it’s his fault because he should have stayed home with his daddy and not come away with me.

“An eight-year-old blames himself for his daddy being killed.

“Not only did you take away my husband, my best friend and my child’s father, you also took away my work colleague.

“We were a team and now that team is broken.

“A huge void is in every part of my life.

“You’ve destroyed my present and taken away my future.

“You’ve taken away the plan for Gary and me to grow our family.

“Being 34 and a widow has turned my life upside down.

“I feel alone all the time.

“Being a single parent, running a business, running a household and being the only person who brings in money has been extremely stressful.

“The responsibility is overwhelming.

“I worry I’m not giving my son the life he deserves.”

Mr Mouat’s father Trevor told the court he and his wife Gill had lost their only child.

“Every time we received contact from the police, it was another reminder of what happened to Gary,” he said.

“As the investigation progressed, we came to learn what had happened to Gary.

“The news just kept on getting worse.

“We just keep on asking and wondering why all the time.

“There are no real answers to those questions.

“We feel utterly lost, desperately wanting to receive his usual early-morning phone call telling us a little bit of news.

“I sometimes still wake up and before the reality hits, I find myself waiting for a call from Gary.

“It very much saddens us to acknowledge that Gary will never see his child grow up, go through school, possibly be the first Mouat to go to university, get a job and hopefully have his own family.

“He will never get to experience the emotions that all parents should feel when they watch their children grow up.

“Louise has suddenly had to take on the role of both parents, which is lifechanging in itself.

“We really don’t know how she and Alfie have coped with this nightmare.

“On the surface, they are doing okay, being both brave and courageous, and we wonder what the future will hold for them.

“Although we are pleased that this ordeal has come to an end and we can begin to grieve, we will never fully heal from the loss of Gary.”