War widow Christina Plumb launched drunken bite assault on husband

A war widow who gained national fame for her campaigning work to help the families of armed forces personnel has been found guilty of assaulting her husband. Christina Plumb, aged 49, attacked Adam Plumb at their address near Ivybridge during a drunken and hysterical rage, a court heard.

Footage taken on a mobile phone showed Plumb in her nightdress screaming at Mr Plumb during a confrontation in the bedroom. As the row escalated Plumb bit him on the back.

She denied two charges of assault by beating, claiming she was the real victim of an assault and the charges were a conspiracy to get her into trouble. But she was found guilty after a trial at Newton Abbot Magistrates’ Court.

READ MORE: CCTV shows Devon cop stealing cheese from Lidl

READ MORE: Paignton's tatty town square could be transformed by rival plans

The judge said her account of what happened was "improbable and unsupported" by the evidence. She had tried to paint herself as a victim of domestic abuse while being the real aggressor.

Plumb, of Ugborough, was previously known as Christina Schmid and campaigned for the families of armed forces personnel after her first husband Staff Sergeant Olaf 'Oz' Schmid was killed defusing a Taliban bomb in 2009.

Staff Sergeant Schmid, 30, from Cornwall, died as he tried to disarm an­ ­improvised explosive device in the Sangin region of Helmand province. The heroic actions of the soldier – known simply as “Oz” to his comrades – saved countless lives. In the years after his death his wife campaigned for better pensions for war widows and higher salaries in the armed forces.

The trial on Tuesday was told the assault happened in September 2023 and started after the pair had gone to bed. Mr Plumb said his wife had drunk most of a bottle of gin that evening and started kicking him while he tried to sleep.

He started to leave but she followed him out of the bedroom, grabbing, scratching, screaming and “just attacking me”, he said.

He ended up in a walk-in dressing room but could not leave because she blocked his path. “When I went to leave she bit me in the middle of the back,” he said. The court was shown a photo of the wound to his back.

Mr Plumb filmed some of what happened on his mobile. It showed the defendant demanding he hand over her phone and Mr Plumb saying he did not have it. It was later found next to the bed.

“Christina was behaving like a dog,” said Mr Plumb in evidence. “She wanted to attack me and I never had her phone. She attacked me continuously in that room and ripped my t-shirt from me.”

He denied trying to goad his wife into violence by pretending to have her phone behind his back.

Police were called. PC Ciaran Sheehan said when he arrived at the scene he saw Mrs Plumb “screaming” and “ranting” in a theatrical way. “She didn’t seem to be behaving normally,” he added.

The defendant, who has no previous convictions, said the couple had been married since 2020 but had not been happy together. She claimed her husband attacked her while she lay in bed after he found out she wanted a divorce.

She said she was suffering from a head injury when she confronted her husband to get her phone back. “I was very dazed and confused,” she said.

District Judge Stuart Smith said the evidence of all the prosecution witnesses had been "compelling" while the defendant's account was not. He said the evidence showed Plumb had cut her own nose with her nails and blown blood in her husband's t-shirt in a false attempt to prove she had been assaulted.

"He showed no aggressive or threatening action towards you," said the judge. "I do not find your evidence credible and the manner you gave it evasive." He said Plumb had tried to discredit other witnesses.

"You have falsely attempted to maliciously manufacture injuries to your nose as an attempt to portray yourself as a victim of domestic abuse while all the time you were the aggressor." He said this was damning evidence of her failed scheme to get her husband into trouble.

"I am satisfied you have assaulted him by kicking, pushing and attempting to bite him on the back."

Plumb was given unconditional bail and the case adjourned for reports to December 23.