A brave mother-of-two decided to share photos of her horrific injuries at the hands of a former boyfriend to inspire other domestic violence victims to come forward.
Simone Dyche thought she was ‘going to die’ when William Coulter held her already beaten face under water and told her ‘you’re not getting out of here alive’.
The 24-year-old, from Chaddesden, Derby, said despite what he did to her she kept going back to abusive Coulter ‘because I loved him so much’.
Simone Dyche(pictured with her injuries) thought she was ‘going to die’ when William Coulter held her already beaten face under water and told her ‘you’re not getting out of here alive’
Coulter was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to three common assaults and an assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Ms Dyche.
She said: ‘I thought I was going to die. At one stage, when my Will was holding my head under the water, I gave up fighting him thinking this was the end for me.
‘If telling my story saves one person from dying at the hands of a violent partner then it will be worth it.
‘My message to them is that there is help and support out there and they are not the only person going through this.
Ms Dyche, pictured without her injuries, decided to share the photos to inspire other domestic violence victims to come forward
‘You can beat this, you can make it stop by speaking out.’
Jailing the 30-year-old for 26 months, Recorder Martin Butterworth told Derby Crown Court: ‘It is a tragedy that she encountered you in her life.
‘You trapped her and manipulated her. Any court you come before is likely to see you as a man who is dangerous to women.’
Ms Dyche, who has children aged eight and six from a previous relationship, said: ‘I met Will through mutual friends last year and we made our relationship official on Christmas Eve.
‘I had no idea what was about to happen to me or that he had a history of assaulting his former partners.
‘He was lovely, I was so in love with him, but then, one night I got back to his old place in Alvaston and things turned violent.’
This was on March 20 after they had been out for a family meal at the Blue Jay pub and she then went out in town with female friends.
She said Coulter was texting and ringing her asking where she was and demanding she came back to his then home.
Ms Dyche said: ‘He started calling me a “slag” and then suddenly threw me on his bed, got on top of me and started punching me to my face.
Ms Dyche, pictured before and after the attacks by Coulter, has been able to recover after ‘fantastic’ support from her family
Ms Dyche, who has children aged eight and six from a previous relationship, met Coulter(pictured before the physical abuse started) through mutual friends last year
Coulter’s first assault was on March 20, when he attacked Ms Dyche after they had been drinking in a pub
‘I just remember being so shocked at what was happening, I was kicking with my feet trying to get him off.
‘He suddenly got off and stopped straight away and burst into tears saying how sorry he was.
‘Sadly for me I just believed him and thought that would be it but it wasn’t.’
Ms Dyche said she was assaulted two more times by Coulter, always when he was drunk, at his former home.
Ms Dyche said she was assaulted two more times by Coulter, always when he was drunk, at his former home
She said he would be to pull her to the bed or the ground by her hair, get on top of her, start to strangle her and then repeatedly punch her to the face.
After the third attack, in May, she finally plucked up the courage to call the police, who arrested Coulter.
While he was on bail for those assaults he talked Simone into seeing him again, something she agrees she was ‘stupid’ to give in to but which she did through ‘sheer love’ for him.
She said: ‘I know people will read this and think I was stupid and I accept that, but I was so in love with him I believed he might change and stop hurting me.
‘But the last occasion was the worst assault of the lot and took place again when he was drunk.’
This took place on July 27 after she and Coulter had been bowling and then for a drink at a nearby pub.
Ms Dyche said they got back to his Alvaston address and while they were in the living room he attacked her again.
She said: ‘It followed the same pattern as the other attacks, he pulled me to the floor by my hair, got on top of me and started punching me to the face.
‘He beat me unconscious and I remember coming to in a daze and him dragging me into the bathroom.
Ms Dyche said that after the final attack, Coulter pulled her out of the water and made her clean herself up before insisting she came with him to the shop where he bought more booze
‘He told me to wash the blood from my face as it was pouring down but because I still felt dazed, I wasn’t quick enough for him, so he filled the sink with water and plunged my face down in it.
Ms Dyche said Coulter pulled her out of the water and made her clean herself up before insisting she came with him to the shop where he bought more booze.
He made her put up her hood so no-one would see her injuries.
For three days, she stayed at the house under his constant watch as he monitored who she was calling and texting on her mobile phone.
But Ms Dyche managed to go to the toilet and email the horrific photographs of her injuries to her sister.
On the final day, when Coulter let her return to her mother, and she called the police again.
Ms Dyche said she feels like a ‘different person’ after seeing Coulter jailed. She now has a job as a hotel housekeeper
Ms Dyche said: ‘I wanted to be in court to see him jailed, he blew kisses tome over the video link from prison.
‘I just looked at him and thought “why have I let someone damage me this much?'”.
‘It has only been a few days since he was sentenced but I already feel so much better.
‘I have got myself a job as a hotel housekeeper, I have had fantastic support from my family and friends and I already feel like a different person.
‘I want people who are suffering in the same way that I have that there is a way out, you can beat the cycle of abuse.’