R lives in the South of Glasgow and does not speak English very well.  She is only 4’3” tall and very slightly built. She had been separated from her husband for a number of years and lived with her two children aged 5 and 8.   Her husband, an ex boxer, tracked her down to her flat.  She opened the door not knowing it was him, and he gained entry.  He beat her up, poured bleach over her and burnt her arms with hair straightening irons.  The children witnessed this.  The police were called but they did not catch him and the case was left open.

Over a year later in November 2005 her husband again gained access to the flat by pretending to be the postman.  Since his previous assault she had fitted a security chain to the door, but he kicked it off.  She ran to the phone, but he grabbed her by the hair and began to punch her.  It was early in the morning and the children were still in bed, but they were awakened by their mother’s screams.  They ran into the hallway where they saw their father slashing their mother with a knife.   He slashed her arms, stomach and clothing, and then beat her until she passed out.   The 8 year old boy was begging his father not to kill his mother.  Neighbours had heard the screams and the police were called.  R’s husband was arrested just outside her home.

As a child R had had a glass eye fitted, and the glass eye was knocked out and her eye socket badly damaged during the beating.  She is still receiving treatment for this, and has significant lumps on her head where he punched her and pulled out clumps of her hair.

Unfortunately R ‘fell through the net’, and only came to Victim Support’s attention when her children’s’ school contacted us because R had been the victim of a robbery.  It was only when our volunteer visited R that the full extent of what she had been through became known.  Perhaps because of the language barrier, R had actually fallen through several nets of agencies who should have kept her informed of what was happening with her husband.

She was in the process of being moved to a new house, and was desperate to know what had happened at court to her husband.  She, along with her 8 year old, had attended court to give evidence but he pled guilty so her evidence was not required.  She had assumed that he had been sent to jail, and only when Victim Support intervened with the authorities did she learn that he had received a probation order and 180 hours of community service.  When Victim Support told her that her husband was NOT in jail, she collapsed and, when she came round, shook uncontrollably for an hour.