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Annabelle Boucher, a 48-year-old woman from Somerset, has revealed the significant financial toll she faced after divorcing her ex-husband, David Rogers, who admitted to coercive and controlling behaviour. Despite evidence of abuse, Boucher ended up paying Rogers £75,000, in addition to more than £30,000 in her own legal fees, amounting to a total cost exceeding £105,000. She is now calling for changes to the divorce laws, arguing that the current legal system fails to consider the criminal nature of an abuser within divorce proceedings.
Boucher’s relationship with Rogers began in 2017, quickly progressing to marriage two years later. However, after their wedding, things took a drastic and troubling turn. “It creeps up on you and you’re in it, and so you don’t kind of notice what is happening,” she explained, describing how she emotionally shut down and isolated herself out of fear. She said she felt trapped and unable to leave the situation, despite the extreme behaviour she endured. The abuse was reported to the police, leading to Rogers’ arrest in February 2024.
The divorce was finalised in September 2025, even as Rogers’ criminal case was ongoing. In April 2026, Rogers pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour and received a 20-month suspended sentence at Taunton Crown Court. Boucher noted that although she was aware a financial settlement would be necessary, she was surprised that Rogers’ criminal behaviour had no impact on the division of finances. Both parties had retained separate properties and handled bills independently, yet she was still required to pay a substantial lump sum to Rogers. Having had to take out personal loans to manage these costs, Boucher described the financial burden as “crippling” and anticipates paying off these debts for many years.
Highlighting the need for legal reform, Boucher stressed that current divorce laws are outdated and fail to adequately support victims of domestic abuse during financial settlements. “I just think it’s very sad that people that have been through far worse than this are still told that that has no relevance to the divorce proceedings they’re going through,” she said, describing this as an additional punishment for victims. Experts like Olive Craig, a senior legal officer from the charity Rights of Women, have pointed out that family courts remain reluctant to consider domestic abuse in financial decisions unless it meets a very high threshold. While physical violence may be acknowledged, coercive control is often dismissed, despite its significant manipulative effects. Family law specialists also emphasize that although recent awareness of domestic abuse’s impact has grown, further changes are necessary to ensure the legal system better reflects contemporary societal issues
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