AS HER dog, Bella, bumps into a lamppost on their walk, Emma Lawton’s heart drops.
Bella manages well with just one eye, though she is occasionally clumsy and confused.
But for Emma, the is a constant reminder of her ex-partner Kalib Morris – a violent who terrified them both and left Bella without an eye.
Morris, 27, who orchestrated a campaign of against Emma which included blinding her dog in one eye, has now been jailed.
But for ten months, he made Emma’s life a misery, controlling what she ate, what clothes she wore, when she spoke to her family, taking her money, watching her bath, and, worst of all, injuring her beloved pet dog.
Sometimes, Emma went a whole day without food under his regime.
Morris was sentenced to 37 months in prison when he appeared at Chester Crown Court in March this year, after pleading guilty to controlling and , three counts of assault by beating, criminal damage and theft.
Emma, 39, says: “What kind of monster would harm a defenceless animal?
“Bella is a lovely, gentle dog and I trusted Kalib with her.
“Every time I look at her, I remember what he did. It took a lot of courage to walk away from him, and I want other survivors to know that there is hope and support out there.”;
The couple met in 2023 over a
Mum of two Emma, from Ellesmere Port, , says: “My two daughters had grown up and left home and I found myself rattling around in a three-bedroom house with time on my hands.
“I moved into a flat, determined to try a new start. I’d been single for a while and decided to try a dating app.”;
She hooked up with Morris who was persistent from the start.
Emma says: “Kalib was 11 years younger than me, and I was flattered at first, he was very intense and sent lots of romantic messages.
“We met up at the park for a walk and he just never went home again; he always made an excuse to stay another day.
“I have an , Bella, who I adore, and Kalib seemed to like her too, which was important to me.
“I liked having a man about again, and at first, things were OK.”;
But two months in, Morris began checking Emma’s phone.
She says: “He told me he’d been cheated on in the past, so I thought he was insecure. I thought I could help him to learn to trust me.”;
Emma was working shifts in a nearby pub, leaving Kalib at home to look after Bella.
She says: “One day I came home to find a rip in the carpet. Another day there was a slit in the sofa.
“My flat was newly decorated, and I couldn’t believe it. Kalib said it was Bella but she had never chewed a thing in the past.
“I started to believe him, because there was no other explanation. I felt like I was going mad.”;
Morris would offer to go to the cash machine for Emma after work – and she later found out he was stealing from her.
She says: “After a long shift at the pub, he’d say: ‘You put your feet up, I’ll run the errands.’ I thought he was doing me a favour.”;
Morris then started turning up at the pub to watch Emma at work.
She says: “He made me uneasy, accusing me of flirting with the customers.
“I ended up leaving my job which, in hindsight, I think is just what he wanted.
“He didn’t like me wearing short skirts or tight jeans, he’d tell me I was disrespectful to him, and I started to question myself. I usually got my hair and nails done but I stopped doing that too.
I was so under his control that I just did as he said. It was like being under a spell
Emma Lawton
“I’ve always loved my food, I wasn’t overweight, but he started telling me I was fat, and I needed to eat less.
“He gradually took control of my food, my clothes, my mobile phone, and my money.
“I lost lots of weight and there were some days when I didn’t eat at all.”;
Gradually, Emma says that Morris became more and more controlling of routine.
“He controlled when I was allowed to have a bath, and he would sit on the toilet and watch me,”; she says.
“I had no privacy or dignity.
“I was stuck at home all day, he didn’t even like me being in the living room because he thought I was looking at the men in the opposite flat.
“If I went out, he’d do something in retaliation, like smashing up the furniture or threatening to harm himself or me. I couldn’t even go to the local shop without a meltdown from him.
“He would bite me, pretending it was playful, but it really hurt. He threw stuff at me, he’d pull my hair and throw me around.
“I have a condition called Chiara Malformation and I suffer from horrendous headaches. But Kalib didn’t let me go anywhere, even for medical appointments.
“Once I came home and he had trashed the flat; my clothes were everywhere, and he had smashed my belongings.”;
Emma called the police who arrested Morris but he was released on bail, but he went straight back to her flat.
She says: “I was so under his control that I just did as he said. It was like being under a spell.”;
In December 2023, Emma left the flat for an optician’s appointment.
She says: “When I got back, Bella had her lead and collar on, and Kalib said he’d been walking her round the living room which I thought was odd.
“It wasn’t until I went to stroke her that I saw her right eye was swollen and bleeding.”;
Bella was rushed to the vet, but her eye could not be saved.
Kalib Morris is a monster and a coward; what kind of man targets a defenceless animal?
Emma Lawton
Emma says: “I was told she’d die without the surgery so there was no choice. I used all my savings to pay the vet bill. I was devastated for her.
“Kalib admitted he’d hit her, but he said to me: I could kill you quicker than you could call the police.’”;
For the next couple of months, Emma did her best to avoid him, whilst nursing Bella back to health.
She says: “He turned up at a barbeque at my friend’s house, ran into the garden and punched me to the floor.
“My family insisted I had to ring the police, and I begged them to take Kalib away where he could no longer hurt us.”;
He was jailed in March 2025 for 37 months.
Emma says: “I feel a shell of the woman I used to be. My weight dropped to seven stone, and I was a nervous wreck.
“I went through hell, he took all my money, I lost my home and my confidence. But it was nothing to what poor Bella suffered.
“She has adapted so well to having one eye, but she still walks into things. Kalib Morris is a monster and a coward; what kind of man targets a defenceless animal? I want everyone to see his face and know what he has done – I don’t want him to do this to anyone else.
“I thought we’d never escape, but Bella and I are now rebuilding our lives together, with love.”;
