Dad boxes for charity that helped wife after abuse

A father who had never boxed has raised £2,630 for a charity supporting people affected by crime - after it helped his wife through court proceedings over sexual abuse she suffered as a child.

Craig Hinde, 41, from Droylsden, Greater Manchester, trained for eight weeks before taking part in a white-collar boxing event in Manchester.

His wife Trish said Victim Support prepared her for court after she reported being sexually abused as a child by her father, Gerard King, who was convicted at Chester Crown Court in 2022.

Craig also said it had helped their son Jacob, 10, who took up boxing after being bullied, regain his sparring confidence, showing how trying mattered more than winning.

Trish, 38, said she had never been in a courtroom before and described the prospect as "terrifying".

The lettings administrator said Victim Support talked her through what to expect and reassured her that it was acceptable to say she did not know or could not remember an answer.

"For people who have been through trauma, they often are terrified of not being believed," she said.

But she said there was none of that feeling when speaking to the charity.

"It's just acceptance and validation," she said.

"There's no judgment. They just help you through the process."

Trish said getting help was "the best thing I ever did" and that she was now a very different person from the one who had gone through the court process.

She said hearing somebody acknowledge how awful her experience had been changed the way she thought about what had happened.

"For somebody to just say, what happened to you was awful, it just changes something in your brain," she said.

Craig said watching his wife go through the case had been extremely difficult: "There's not much I could do, like it was out of my hands" he said.

Craig said he had not known about Victim Support until his family needed its help.

"You don't know you need them until you need them," he said.

He said the charity told him it had "never done this before" when he approached it about raising money through white-collar boxing.

Craig said he initially thought raising £50 or £100 would be a good result, but eventually collected £2,630 and was named the event's Golden Glove Top Fundraiser.

He trained at ISAN Gym in Oldham and said he had never boxed before signing up.

Craig said Jacob had taken up boxing and the sport had helped him through bullying.

However, his son later became hesitant about sparring and Craig wanted to show him that putting himself in an uncomfortable situation was an achievement regardless of whether he won.

Jacob was too young to attend the event, but Craig said he showed him footage afterwards.

Craig narrowly lost the contest but said: "It was just the getting in there that counted."

He said he noticed "a big switch" in Jacob's confidence in the following weeks and that his son had since started technical sparring.

Craig's training also coincided with the deaths of both his grandparents within days of each other.

He said his grandmother died on a Saturday and his grandfather, whom he described as a role model, died the following Monday.

Craig said he sat crying in his car before that evening's training session and questioned whether to go inside.

"I got tears in the car before I got in there, wiped them," he said.

He decided to train and said afterwards: "My head just felt lighter."

Craig said the exercise helped him mentally during what he described as "a real difficult time".

He said he had been more nervous about the ring walk than the contest itself, but seeing Trish in the crowd had helped.

Reflecting on their family life since the court case, Trish said: "We live very much in the moment now."

"We try and enjoy every moment."

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