A bodyguard working for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who have campaigned publicly against domestic violence, once was convicted of attempting to strangle his wife.
On September 5, Pere Daobry, 51, was photographed as the couple’s driver. Daobry was convicted in 2016 for strangling his wife before calling 999 and admitting the act; the British magistrate gave him a 12-week suspended prison sentence, saying, “We do take note you have no previous convictions, and you had the decency to ring 999.”
Daobry, a former Met police officer, strangled his wife Sarah Jay, a former Essex police sergeant, after she informed him she did not love him anymore, reported The Daily Mail. Jay committed suicide in 2019.
My client brave #SarahJay tells her shocking story of #domesticabuse at the hands of firearms officer Pere Daobry https://t.co/vaefqg5RRE
— David Jeffs (@DavidJeffsMedia) September 25, 2016
Jay recalled that after they had a fight in their bedroom, “I suggested he go to the gym to calm down and moved away to get away from him. He grabbed me. The next thing I remember was being on my back. I was struggling to breathe. I could feel his rage. He had his hands around my neck and was choking me.”
“All I could concentrate on was staying alive. I was gasping for breath but couldn’t get any in. I realized I had to lay still, not struggle and breathe through my nose. Trying to do that was the last thing I remember. … I was only seconds away from death – that terrifies me,” she added.
After Daobry’s conviction, Jay stated:
I suffered at the hands of this lunatic for two years. I am devastated he isn’t behind bars. He deserves to be. For any man to do this is terrible – for a policeman to do what he did is outrageous. He nearly killed me. All he got is a slap on the wrists. What deterrent is that for other men ? When I met him I was a strong, confident, capable woman. I could never have imagine being a victim of domestic violence. I was terrified, isolated and had no one to turn to.
In July, it was reported that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s new head of security Alberto Alvarez, had once been charged with felony domestic violence. He was given three years’ probation. “The judge dismissed the domestic violence charge ‘in furtherance of justice’ as part of his plea deal,’” The Daily Mail noted.