My jealous ex brutally attacked me with boiling gravy just because I spent “too much time” with my dying dad

Sitting by her dad’s bedside as he took his last breath, Shannon Mullan couldn’t fully focus on her grief.

Instead, Shannon was thinking about how just three days ago, her ex-partner had gotten angry because she wanted to spend time with her. dying dad

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Cruel Philip Hill told her: “Your dad was 60 years old. You should spend time with me.”

In the horrific attack, which came just 72 hours before Shannon’s dad Ben died, Hill strangled the mother of his children and doused her in boiling gravy.

Now that Hill is about to begin serving a prison term, 29-year-old Shannon, a mother of four, recalls: “I was very close to my dad and I wanted to take care of him in his dying days.

“But every time I took him to the hospital or went to see him, Philip complained. He was so controlling; he didn’t like me doing anything that didn’t concern him.

“It’s such a relief that he’s out of my life, but I’ll never forgive him for ruining my last days with my dad.”

Shannon and Hill met on a night out in Mold, Wales, five years ago and Shannon says she liked him from the start.

He showered her with gifts and bonded her son from a previous relationship as well as her family.

“Philip was generous and kind, he took me places, bought me flowers, chocolates and new dresses,” says Shannon.

“He bought me perfume and cosmetics, and booked nice restaurants and weekends away. He treated me so well. I had a young son and he treated him wonderfully.

“He had his own place, a good job as a carpenter, and he seemed like the perfect man for me.

“As a single mother, I’m not used to being put first, and it was really nice. My parents got to know him, and they loved him too.”

The couple had three children together.

But it was during pregnancy with their second child that Shannon noticed a change in Hill.

She explains: “He became irritable and picky.

“He didn’t like it when I saw my friends and family and I became very lonely and isolated without even realizing it.

“Philip 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 exhausting.

“He was drinking heavily and then he lost his job. I felt like I couldn’t handle it anymore.”

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It was March 2023 when Shannon’s dad was diagnosed with an inoperable lung cancer.

Shannon wanted to be close to her father, who already had concerns about his daughter’s partner.

She says: “I’m very close to my family, I live in the same street as my parents and I saw them every day, often behind Philip’s back.

“Dad was a genius, doing school runs and taking care of the kids. I relied on him and we got along so well. We had the same sense of humor.

“Dad saw before me that Philip was not good for me; he noticed that I was quiet and reserved. But he tried not to say too much because he didn’t want to cause me problems.”

Shannon was able to break away from Hill shortly after her father’s diagnosis, but he was persistent.

“After my dad came home from the hospital with the diagnosis, I went to see my parents and we were all shocked,” she says.

“But even that day Philip was calling me, insisting that I go home because he needed me.

“I was shocked and asked him to leave soon. My parents were relieved.”

Philip began to complain about me taking my dad to hospital appointments

Shannon Mullan

The couple was separated for nine months, but at the beginning of 2024, they decided to take a new turn in their relationship.

Shannon was desperate to keep her family together while helping to care for her father.

She says: “Philip promised that he would change, and I wanted to give our family a chance for the sake of the children.

“Dad was very unwell at the time. The cancer had spread and his treatment had not worked. It was stressful and I helped as much as I could.

“Philip was fine for a few weeks, but then he started complaining about me taking dad to hospital appointments or running errands for him.

“He didn’t even like me texting because he said I was on the phone and not fully present for him.

“My mother is disabled, my two brothers work full-time, so I was the only one with a car around. Dad needed me.”

In August of this year, Ben, 66, was nearing the end of his life, but as her father’s condition worsened, Hill made Shannon’s life even more difficult.

Three days before Ben’s death, Hill committed a brutal attack.

“I had to get my dad’s prescription before the pharmacy closed,” Shannon recalls that evening.

“We were cooking a roast dinner and Philip got angry, saying I was thinking more about my dad than him and I should stay at home with my family.

“He poured a pot of hot gravy over me, but I was so focused on getting to the pharmacy that I just changed and ran out.”

Attached to the floor

When Shannon returned home, the attack escalated.

Philip again accused her of neglecting him and pinned her to the kitchen floor with his arms around her neck.

She says: “He was shouting that I had spent years with my dad and I needed to put him and my family first.

“He threw me against the kitchen cabinets, then pushed me to the floor and pressed my arms to my sides.

“He held me by the neck with his hands and strangled me. For a few moments I thought he was going to kill me, it was so scary.

“When he let go, I tried to free myself. He suddenly seemed to come to his senses, and I was able to escape.”

Shannon ran to a neighbor for help, while Philip himself called the police, confessing what he had done.

Shannon adds: “He was arrested, but I could barely think about it. I was really upset about dad, who really got worse.’

At her dying father’s bedside, Shannon was distracted by calls to the police and social services.

She says: “Even then, in his last moments, Phillip managed to make it all about him. I will never be able to forgive him for this. I was heartbroken by the loss of my dad.

“It was terrifying trying to plan the funeral and deal with my grief and facing the court case.

“But no matter what, I’m glad I got through it.”

“Horrible picture”

Philip Hill, 33, appeared at Mold Crown Court last month and was jailed for 15 months, having previously admitted common assault, willful strangulation and assault by beating.

He was also given a five-year preventive measure.

Prosecutor Anna Price said Hill “seemed to have a problem with the amount of attention” Shannon was giving her terminally ill father rather than him.

Sentencing, Judge Rhys Rowlands added: “What an absolutely horrific picture. He realizes that his partner has to deal with the tragic end of her father’s life.

“I’m really amazed at how people can behave sometimes.

“She must have been extremely vulnerable and under a lot of stress.”

Shannon says that while she can never get those last moments with her dad back, she knows he’s proud of how she’s moved on with her life since then.

She adds: “I miss my dad every day, but I know he would be proud if I did well with my kids and looked to the future.”

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