Domestic violence victim speaks out as her ex is jailed (From York Press)

Domestic violence victim speaks out as her ex-boyfriend Bradley Want is jailed

9:50am Monday 3rd September 2012 in News By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk

A WOMAN from York who was brutally attacked by her former partner has urged other victims of domestic violence not to suffer in silence.

She said she feared for her life as her ex-boyfriend and father to her young son “lost it” after finding two other men in the house they shared at the time.

Now she has bravely agreed to show the horrific facial injuries she suffered while subjected to the vicious and prolonged assault by 23-year-old Bradley Scot Want, at their home.

Want, of Hadrian Avenue, near Hull Road, was jailed for 16 months at York Crown Court for the attack, which has left his victim with lasting emotional and physical scars. The 24-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, said she would need corrective surgery on her nose.

She said: “The heartache I feel is mainly for my son. Just looking at him each day knowing that in the future this could potentially cause him a lot of pain is truly torture.

“The thought of my son alone is what got me through the attack. I will never forget what went through my mind that night. It was one of the worst feelings I’ve had and ever will have. I thought ‘he’s going to kill me, I’m never going to see my son again’ – a feeling no parent should have to experience. My next thought felt so certain: ‘I have to get through this for my son’. I was fighting for my life, both mentally and physically.

“What hurt the most was my son having to see me afterwards and having to lie to him about how I sustained my horrific injuries.”

She said: “Only the victims themselves can have a true understanding of what it is like to endure domestic abuse. Even after I was brutally assaulted, I was still unaware that I had been the victim of domestic abuse, until I visited IDAS (Independent Domestic Abuse Services) who helped me to understand that there were signs of domestic abuse very early in my relationship.”

The couple were separated but were still sharing a house at the time of the attack. On the night of April 15, the woman had been out with a friend in York and bumped into two men who were old friends of Want. At the end of the night, all four returned to her house.

When they got there, Want was not at the house, but was expected back later. When Want returned he attacked the two men and chased them out of the house. He then turned on the two women, launching the brutal attack on his ex-girlfriend and slapping her friend in the face.

He then left the house to find the two men. While he was gone she locked the front door but Want returned and tried to kick it down, before managing to get in through the back door and continuing his vicious assault on her.

He pleaded guilty to assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and was sentenced to a total of 16 months in prison by Judge Abdul Iqbal.