Curtis Robb: Wife of former Olympian feared she would ‘end up dead’ if she didn’t leave marriage, jury told

The GP wife of a former Olympian feared she would “end up dead” if she did not leave her marriage, a jury has heard.

Curtis Robb, 54, allegedly engaged in controlling and coercive behavior toward Sarah Robb on a repeated or ongoing basis between December 2015 and August 2023.

Robb, now a surgeon, competed for Great Britain in the 800 meters at the 1992 and 1996 Games.

He is said to have attacked and threatened his wife, called her names and subjected her to “constant criticism”.

Opening the case at Chester Crown Court on Monday, prosecutor Paulinus Barnes told jurors: “Sarah Robb was in a relationship with this defendant for over 22 years. They had three children. They were doctors. They were doctors too.”

“On the surface they seemed like a happy and successful couple, but there was a dark side to their relationship.

“The prosecution alleges that Curtis Robb was not only cruel to his wife for many years, but was also physically abusive.

“Matters came to a head during a family holiday to the Lake District at Easter in 2023, and in October that year Sarah Robb finally told police what had happened to her.”

The court heard that following an argument in their chambers, Ms Robb said the defendant held a pillow to her face in an “unprovoked attack”.

The prosecutor said: “He doesn’t know how long he held it there but he remembers he started to feel he couldn’t breathe.

“He said after that incident the money dropped out and he later told the police ‘it hit rock bottom because that’s when I knew I had to go, if I didn’t I was going to die’.”

Robb, of Northwich, Cheshire, denies controlling and coercive behaviour.

He also pleaded not guilty to strangulation.

Mr Barnes said Ms Robb told police she had been assaulted by the orthopedic surgeon during their marriage.

She detailed two incidents during her pregnancy with her third child in which she said Robb hit her; one in which Robb “slapped” her on the arm, which left a bruise, and the other in which he punched her in the arm and side while driving.

Mr Barnes said: “She described how throughout their marriage he would say things to her such as calling her a ‘manipulative bitch’ and a ‘neurotic’.

“She said she couldn’t cope as a mother, she underestimated her professional role as a GP and she could handle this job too.

“He says over the years he has learned not to react, not to say anything, not to show any emotion, because he knows the consequences if he reacts.

“In the previous incidents, when he said that he had been violent towards her, he managed to make her believe that it was his fault, that he had somehow brought this upon himself, that he deserved it, and that no one would ever believe him.”

Robb was also interviewed by police, the prosecutor said, and he denied being controlling or domineering towards her.

He said: “He said he was the one in control.

“He accepted that there had been an argument during the Easter holidays in 2023. He denied throwing a pillow at Sarah but covering her face with it and suffocating her.”

The trial continues on Tuesday.