An Olympic athlete has been cleared of controlling and coercive behaviour towards his GP wife following a trial at Chester Crown Court.
Curtis Robb, 54, who represented Great Britain in the 800 metres at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, was accused of assaulting and threatening Sarah Robb, 47.
Prosecutors alleged Mr Robb, an orthopaedic surgeon, subjected his wife to “constant criticism,” name-calling, and displayed a “dark side” involving physical violence and cruelty between December 2015 and August 2023. Despite appearing a “happy and successful couple,” the court heard of the alleged abuse.
On Tuesday, a jury found Mr Robb, of Northwich, Cheshire, not guilty of controlling and coercive behaviour and suffocation after approximately four hours of deliberations.
He was also awarded legal aid costs.
Ms Robb reported her husband to police in October 2023 and also alleged he held down a pillow over her face during a row on a family holiday six months earlier.
When interviewed the next day Mr Robb refuted the allegations and told detectives: “My wife is never happy which is why we are in this scenario.”
The couple met when they were junior doctors in Sheffield before they married in 2010 and went on to have three children, Chester Crown Court heard.
The court heard “matters came to a head” on a holiday in the Lake District in Easter 2023 when Ms Robb said the defendant held a pillow over her face in an “unprovoked attack”.
She told police of violent incidents, including two in which she said she was struck by her husband during her pregnancy with their third child – one in which he “thumped her” on the arm which left bruising and another in which he punched her on the arm and in her side while he was driving.
She also claimed he described her as a “a manipulative bitch” and “neurotic”, said she could not cope as a mother and belittled her professional role as a GP.
Mr Robb told the court he had suffered verbal and physical abuse from his wife.
He denied trying to suffocate her while on holiday and, when asked if he put a pillow over her face, said: “Have I heck. She remonstrated with me, I pushed her back.”
The consultant, based at Warrington Hospital, was suspended from patient-facing duties after he was charged with the offences in April 2025.
