Wendy Jouini abandoned children for a second time for toyboy

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‘I left my kids again - but I don't feel guilty

Tuesday 22 February 2011

When wendy jouini made headlines last year, her story appalled the nation. After falling for an unemployed Tunisian she’d met online, Wendy left her two young children with her mum while she secretly married him in Africa.

Despite promising her kids she’d be home in a week, Wendy – dubbed “Britain’s Worst Mum” by newspapers – didn’t return for three months. Outrageously, the unemployed mum told Closer in October she was baffled as to why her actions caused a furore. Yet she pledged to never ditch Natasha, eight, and Dylan, five, again.

But barely four months later, desperate Wendy, 26, called Closer admitting she’d flown back to Tunisia after Christmas and had been there for six weeks.

She claimed her marriage to Wajdi Jouini, 21, had broken down after a violent row and she wanted to escape but couldn’t afford a flight home. Hoping she’d face up to her responsibilities, we paid for her ticket to reunite her with her children at her mother Beryl’s home in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

Yet it seems Wendy still hasn’t learned the error of her ways. Shockingly, she now insists: “All married couples have arguments, but being apart has made us realise we love each other. I hope he’ll come to England otherwise I might return to Tunisia.”

Incredibly, she adds: “I don’t feel guilty about leaving the kids because they love being with their grandma and I don’t want to take them out of school.”

The single mum started chatting to Wajdi on Facebook in February 2010. She recalls: “He seemed kind, saying I was pretty.” Wendy admitted she wanted to provide a father figure for her children, whose dad is reportedly serving a life sentence for attempted murder. Two weeks later Wajdi proposed via a webcam.

“I said yes instantly,” Wendy gushes. “I was smitten.” Wendy secretly planned a wedding, and asked Beryl, 59, to look after her children for a week while she went to “meet” her new boyfriend.

Wendy

“Wajdi greeted me at the airport in Tunisia. He kissed me on both cheeks – I was giddy with excitement,” recalls Wendy.

But the wedding plans took longer than expected, so Wendy made the shocking decision not to go home to her children until she was married.

“Mum was furious, but all I cared about was my own happiness,” she admits. Recalling her quiet register office wedding two weeks later, she says: “It was the happiest day of my life. I called home afterwards and my kids were excited for me – I wanted to be back with them soon.”

But inexplicably, Wendy stayed in Tunisia, blowing her money on booze. Even when a friend sent Wendy £200, she didn’t book a flight, instead using the cash to enjoy herself with Wajdi. Looking shame-faced, she admits: “I wanted to stay with Wajdi because I loved him.”

Nearly three months later, exhausted Beryl – fearing Wendy was being kept against her will – made a TV appeal for her to return. Within 48 hours Wendy finally came home, and her children made her promise never to leave them again.

Yet in January, Wendy booked another ticket to visit her husband in Africa, leaving her kids with her mum for a second time.

“My mum was OK with me going back as she thought I’d learnt my lesson and wouldn’t stay for months again,” says Wendy.

Bizarrely, she claims the purpose of her trip was to collect her marriage documents. Insisting she wasn’t just avoiding her parental responsibilities, she says: “I wanted to change my name, and to make my marriage official in England too. I told my kids I’d be back within a week.”

Yet six weeks later, she was still in Tunisia.

“I called home a few times and Mum put the kids on the phone so I could ask them how they were doing at school,” she says.

But Beryl became concerned when Wendy began saying that Wajdi was aggressive towards her.

Wendy says: “Wajdi stopped paying me attention and went out with friends, leaving me at home with his family.

“I didn’t have much money saved, but I bought him a £250 motorbike so he could take me out, but he rarely did.”

Wendy – who received handouts from Wajdi’s family, and had meals cooked for her – whines: “I wondered if he’d started seeing someone else, but he told me he couldn’t take me out because I didn’t have any nice clothes or enough money to pay my way. We had a blazing row and he smacked me in the face after I hit him – afterwards we didn’t speak to each other for a day.”

With no money or social life, Wendy finally decided to go home. She called Closer, claiming her husband wanted a divorce and wouldn’t let her leave until she agreed. Crying, she said: “I’ve got no money, he’s spent it all. He’s changed, he’s aggressive – it’s really horrible. I don’t want to be married.”

She added: “My kids miss me but I can’t afford to see them.”

Concerned, Closer flew her home last week. After being reunited with her family, she said: “Seeing the kids was nice. They were very excited to see me. I’m happy to be back.”

Yet Wendy reveals she’s still been talking to Wajdi every day on the phone.

“He was really emotional when I left – it was nice to see that side to him again. Now he tells me he misses me,” she says naively.

Over the past year, burdened Beryl has kept things as stable as possible for the children, reassuring them that Wendy would be home soon whenever she was in Tunisia. Beryl relies on benefits to support Wendy’s children because she hasn’t been able to contribute – and understandably is now desperate for her daughter to get her own place.

Wendy says: “I worry that the kids got away with too much while I wasn’t here and it’s hard because they only answer to their grandma now. I’m hoping it will be easier once I get my own place.”

But Wendy, who owes £500 in overpaid benefits after wrongly claiming them during her first trip to Tunisia, says: “I want a job first. I’ve been to the job centre to look for cleaning work, but the only positions are in Scunthorpe, which is too far away.”

Incredibly, just days after admitting coming to violent blows with her husband, she still believes her future is with him.

She says: “All married couples go through difficult patches. I’ve just got a gut feeling telling me I can trust him.”

She continues: “If Wajdi can get work, he’ll save to come to England on a tourist visa and I’d like my own house for him to visit. If he can’t afford it, I may have to go back to Tunisia on my own, because what we’ve got is special.”

By Natalie Corp