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BBCA home violence sufferer who stated she slept with a hammer beside her mattress for cover has described a scheme that put in new cameras, locks and safety lighting at her house as a lifeline.
Ashleigh Murray, 34, stated she used to be terrified her abusive ex-partner would assault her and her unborn kid at house.
But she stated the Housing Executive’s Sanctuary Scheme helped her rebuild her existence.
The scheme permits folks to stick of their houses with further safety features, together with cameras, lighting, door and window locks and protection rooms.
Warning: This tale comprises main points some might in finding distressing
The mother-of-one’s ex-partner Donald Newell used to be sentenced in November 2023 to 2 years’ probation after he used to be convicted of commonplace attack, legal injury and protracted wrong use of digital communications to purpose nervousness in opposition to her.
Newell, 35 from Saltcoats outdoor Glasgow, used to be additionally convicted of being in breach of a non-molestation order in opposition to Ms Murray and sentenced to 3 months in prison, suspended for 2 years.
“Donald was very scary,” stated Ms Murray.
“He preyed on the good in you, seeing the good in him.
“Whenever he’d pop out of that rage, he would at all times have a rhyme and explanation why as to why he used to be doing it.
“I was always the problem. It was always my fault.”
She described a litany of abuse directed at her by means of her former accomplice together with being strangled, verbally abused in public and threatened.
“I didn’t deserve for him to threaten my life. I didn’t deserve any of that,” she stated.
Newell would “always promise he would get help”, she added, however the abuse were given worse.
She recalled an evening when entering the automobile together with her former accomplice, who used to be inebriated.
“He was pushing my face into the car window. Telling me he was going to cave my head in. He was going to punch me.
“He then broke the ligaments and tendons in my arms.”
On another occasion, Newell drove a car into one being driven by Ms Murray, who was five months pregnant.
“He adopted me down the twin carriageway and rammed me.
“I was pregnant and had reduced movement and had to go to hospital.”
What does the Sanctuary Scheme do?
But she stated the lend a hand won in the course of the Housing Executive’s Sanctuary Scheme gave her “real peace of mind”.
Living in a one-bedroom flat and pregnant, Ms Murray stated her area used to be red-flagged because of the danger Newell posed to her and her unborn daughter.
“He was given a non-molestation order to stay away within a mile of my property. But that didn’t stop him,” she stated.
As a part of the scheme, the Housing Executive put in door and window alarms, flood lighting, cameras and heavy-duty door locks.
“If anyone tries the door, the alarms go off; if anyone taps my window, the alarms go off,” she stated.
“I rely on the alarms. I can watch my home from my cameras when I’m out also.
“It simply provides me that peace of thoughts.”
She added: “The considered him figuring out the place I used to be on every occasion he leaves prison or after the non-molestation order ran out used to be in truth an excessively frightening factor. I used to be at all times on edge.
“So the fact that I can surround myself with good neighbours that are able to keep an eye out for me is a big relief.
“My daughter can develop up in peace and protection clear of him.”
Getty ImagesHow does social housing work for domestic abuse victims?
Kerry Logan, from Housing Rights, welcomed the scheme but said she would like to see it extended beyond Housing Executive homes.
She also said an underlying issue was the urgent need for the government to build more social homes.
“With greater than 49,000 families at the social housing ready checklist in Northern Ireland and a brief lodging disaster, it may be very difficult for folks fleeing home violence abuse to discover a secure position to reside within the time period that they want it,” she added.
Ms Logan also called for people experiencing domestic abuse to be prioritised on the social housing waiting list, by giving them access to a “a lot upper degree of issues than they are lately in a position to”.
Previously, victims of domestic violence were awarded less points for social housing than victims of terrorism or paramilitary intimidation.
However, that changed in May when intimidation points were removed from social housing applications.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said it was to “degree the taking part in box for sufferers of violence”.
Figures from October 2023 to March 2024 show that 607 people presented as homeless due to the treat of domestic violence compared to 101 for intimidation.
Grainia Long, chief executive of the Housing Executive, said balancing the system is “a long-term venture”.
She said the removal of intimidation points was recommended to the department by the Housing Executive and that it is now putting in place a system that “guarantees that the issues which can be allotted higher replicate the character of the violence and the size of the violence”.
She added: “I feel the general public perceive the profound impact that home violence has on girls.
“It’s really important we talk about these things and build public awareness.”
If you’re suffering from any of the problems raised, lend a hand and give a boost to is to be had by the use of BBC Action Line.
