Former UK sergeant recalls romance with armed robber, father of her unborn child: ‘Absolute depths of hell’

Jill Owens was four months pregnant when she received terrible news about the father of her unborn child.

It was Halloween 2006 when a police sergeant learned that Dean Jenkins, a self-made businessman, had been arrested for being the ringleader of a robbery gang that stole over $400,000 from a building society providing financial services in the UK. It was

“It was like I got shot,” Owens recalled to Fox News Digital. “I was completely overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

Owens recalled how a fairy tale romance quickly turned into a nightmare for a limited podcast series by Wondery and Novell, “Stolen Hearts.” It details what decorated members of law enforcement from rural Wales thought of Mr Wright.

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Jill Owens shares her story in “Stolen Hearts,” a new true-crime podcast for Wondery. (Wonder)

The 54-year-old previously wrote a book published in 2020, “Two Cops and a Robber,” in which he described a “match made in hell.”

“After everything that happened, I fought very hard to try and deal with everything,” she explained. “When I started writing the book, I wanted to put some of those demons to rest. … I wanted to get rid of all the rumors. I wanted the truth to come out from my point of view. And it’s been therapeutic.”

As a child, Owens had big dreams of joining the police force. She often found herself in front of the mirror wearing a trilby hat, like the one worn by Inspector Clouseau from “The Pink Panther” series. In 1990, she joined the Dyfed-Powys Police Department. She served for 17 years and received an award for bravery after risking her life to help a suicidal youth.

“Without boasting, I was very good at what I did,” he recalled. “And I was quite happy that I managed to get the job that I always wanted to do.”

Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in one of the “Pink Panther” movies. Jill Owens said that it was her childhood dream to be like the character. (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

While Owens’ career continued to flourish, he privately found himself searching for love. After being married and divorced twice to two police officers, she hoped the third time would be a charm.

Despite her reservations, the single mother of two tried online dating after being persuaded by a friend. That’s how she met Jenkins.

“At the time, online dating was quite a new thing. It’s not like that now,” she said. “There was a little bit of a stigma about it. I said, ‘I’m not feeling it, so I’m going to come out.’ And then I said, ‘I have to go one more time.’ This time, instead of looking at profiles, I’ll just look at pictures and see if I’m attracted.

“That’s when I saw Dean wearing a blue Armani suit. There was an instant attraction to the picture, which compelled me to click it. … We started chatting, and it took off from there. It There was an instant connection. We chatted.” Like we’ve known each other for a while.”

Owens was quickly swayed by Jenkins, a charismatic self-made businessman who had his own line of men’s grooming products. While he was in London and she in Wales, the distance did not matter. They eagerly met in Cardiff, a half way. Romance blossomed very quickly.

Jill Owens thought she had found love online, but she couldn’t be more wrong. (courtesy of Jill Owens)

Owens said, “I met his family. I went to his workplace. He met my family.” “There was no missing gap. We were three hours apart, but we saw each other every other weekend. My kids were here, and his kids were there. It was a long-distance relationship. But during that time we We were together, we packed in a lot those weekends. And I met everyone. I met his sisters, his mother, his father. There was absolutely nothing to suggest that anything was wrong.”

Owens got a surprise. She was pregnant.

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“I thought a lot of the opinion would be, ‘That was too soon,’ or, ‘They shouldn’t have been involved,'” she said. “But… when is the right time? It was a case, we found each other, and we want to be together, so we’ll take a step forward. And when I found out I was pregnant, we ended up Have become.” Moon. wanted it.

“It was icing on the cake. It was just perfect. … I think everyone wants to feel like they’ve finally found their soul mate, and they’re going to spend the rest of their lives with them and Will be happy. Timing on it, it seemed like that. It was probably too good to be true, but it all felt so right. There was nothing to question.

On Halloween night in 2006, Owens suddenly found himself worried. He hadn’t heard from Jenkins in two days, which was unusual. When her sister sent a message to call her, she was overjoyed.

Dean Jenkins appeared as Jill Owens, a self-made businesswoman. However, her boyfriend was leading a double life. (courtesy of Jill Owens)

“He was always constantly texting or calling, and then all of a sudden, there’s nothing,” Owens said. “So when her sister called, it was a relief because I was finally getting some news. I needed to know what was going on because something wasn’t right. And I was desperate to know What the hell is going on.”

According to Jenkins’ sister, the robbery took place in Kent. One of the armed robbers was shot and killed. and Jenkins was the getaway driver for the gunman.

Owens learns that Jenkins was part of a gang that targeted security guards delivering cash to a building society in Kent. The raids took place between March and October that year.

“I’ve heard a million times, ‘She must know. She must know,'” Owens admitted. “But, at the time, there was no criminal record for her. … I was pregnant. My job was on the line. My home was on the line. My relationship was over. Everything dear to me was gone in an instant. .

Jill Owens was pregnant with Dean Jenkins’ child when she learned he was involved in a robbery gang. (courtesy of Jill Owens)

“It took so many years to process what had happened,” she said. “I constantly questioned myself, ‘Why did he do that?’ or, ‘Why did I do this?’ There is no bigger critic than me.”

Owens soon became the subject of disciplinary proceedings. Owens said that two to three senior officers would be interviewing her at a time, insisting that she must be aware of her boyfriend’s double life.

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“He said I should have known because the names of two of his shower gels were Beat the Filth and It’s a Stick Up, and they were clearly referring to armed robberies,” she said. “Somehow, I should have known with him in that shower range that he was an armed robber, which was ridiculous. There was no indication that he was involved in anything. And there was no record of him.”

His career as Sgt. was officially over. Owens said that he “needed to resign” in 2008. A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

According to the podcast, Dean Jenkins has been sentenced to 17 years. (courtesy of Jill Owens)

Jenkins was sentenced to 17 years.

“My career, my income and my family fell apart over this,” she said. “I lost friends. Colleagues didn’t talk to me. I was very lonely. I went from this fairy tale to finding myself in the absolute depths of hell. And I stayed there for a long time – many years. It was still an uphill climb because I couldn’t trust anyone. I didn’t understand anything. I was naturally defensive. I built up a wall. It came to a point where I was like, ‘You Either you want to learn to love again and have a life, or you’re going to let this whole thing end your life.’

“I still don’t feel [Dean] realize or even want to acknowledge the enormity of the effect it had on me,” she said. “He was involved in the robbery. I didn’t know it, and yet it affected my whole life.”

While Owens was left with unanswered questions from her ex-boyfriend, she has since moved on. Today, she runs her own business and is happily married. He has also received letters from many other people who found themselves on the wrong side of love.

Jill Owens at her home in Herefordwest, Wales. She said that her relationship with armed robber Dean Jenkins ruined her career in law enforcement. (Ben Birchall / PA Images via Getty Images)

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,[My past] Don’t bite me now,” she said. “I know where I am now, and I know what’s right. Not a day goes by that I don’t go over all this and question what I did.

“But it was a one in a million chance that all of these situations came down on me at one time. It’s been a tough road, but I come to terms with what happened. And, in telling my story, the goal was to protect myself. “