The ex-husband of a beauty therapist has described how she beat him and his new partner after surprising them in bed together.
Simon Deaton, 44, met Nicole Clarke, 41, on Plenty of Fish in 2014 and they married two years later.
Simon, a successful businessman, said Nicole posed as the perfect woman at first, showering his parents with gifts and making a fuss of his friends.
But after they married, she began drinking heavily, subjecting him to violent outbursts which culminated in her attacking him and his new girlfriend one night as they lay in bed.
Simon Deaton, 44, from Derbyshire, has revealed his ex-wife Nicole Clarke, 41, (pictured together) was given a restraining order after attacking him and his new girlfriend
Simon and Nicole, pictured on their wedding day, married two years after meeting on Plenty of Fish, and she impressed him by showering his parents with gifts and making a fuss of his friends
Simon said Nicole seemed like his ‘soulmate’, however her personality changed after she launched her own beauty business
Dad of two Simon, from Derbyshire, said: ‘Nicole seemed like my soulmate, but looking back, it was total manipulation. As soon as she got what she wanted, she turned on me.
‘When the police came, they blamed me, not her, at first. There should be more support for men suffering domestic violence.’
Simon, who runs a family scrap metal business and is an amateur racing driver, met Nicole on the popular dating site seven years ago.
‘Nicole was very pretty, and she was generous and thoughtful,’ he recalled. ‘I’m very close to my family, and she befriended them. She and my mum went out shopping together and she’d often bring designer treats home for me.
‘She even paid for me to go to the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. For Christmas that year, she bought me a £5,000 designer watch. She absolutely bowled me over.
‘It was reassuring for me that Nicole wasn’t after my money. She was independent and successful in her own right. She ran a transport business and managed to get me some sponsors for my motor racing.
Simon said Nicole was pretty, thoughtful and even paid for him to go to the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. Pictured: Simon after a race track win
Simon said Nicole, who ran a transport business, managed to get him sponsors for his motor racing. Pictured: Simon after a race track win
Father-of-two claims Nicole (pictured) seemed independent and it was reassuring that she wasn’t after his money
Simon proposed after Nicole moved into his £750 000 Grade 2 listed home (pictured) in 2014 and they welcomed their first child the following year
‘She made a real fuss of my mates too. Looking back, she was very clever; she knew how to ingratiate herself into my life.’
Nicole moved into Simon’s £750,000 Grade 2 listed home and in July 2014, he proposed. Their daughter was born the following year. A second daughter followed in May 2016.
Simon said: ‘I was incredibly proud of my family, and I adored my two little girls. I was a real hands-on dad.’
The couple were married at Chatsworth House, a stately home in Derbyshire, and afterwards had a honeymoon in the USA.
After the birth of their second daughter, Nicole launched her own beauty business and training school, which quickly became successful.
‘The beauty business seemed to consume her, and she became obsessed with cosmetic treatments,’ Simon explained. ‘From being a woman who was comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt she started dressing very glamorously.
Simon and Nicole married at Chatsworth House (pictured) then enjoyed a honeymoon in the USA
Simon said the beauty business and training school Nicole (pictured) launched began to consume her as she became obsessed with treatments
Simon said Nicole (pictured) began drinking heavily and would accuse him of having an affair with her friends
Simon said Nicole, who is only 5’2, would become very aggressive and punch him when drunk. Pictured: Couple on their honeymoon
‘She began drinking heavily and accusing me of being unfaithful. She claimed I was sleeping with her friends which was totally untrue. When she was drunk, she was very aggressive. She would hit and punch me. I tried to defend myself, but I didn’t hit her back. I’m 6ft3′ and she is only 5ft2’.
‘I was under a lot of stress, and I felt ashamed of the way she was treating me. But my priority was our daughters and I wanted to keep the family together. But I began to dread her drinking binges – every two or three weeks, she would just turn into a monster.’
In February 2018, Simon suspected Nicole had been unfaithful to him and in the ensuing argument she attacked him again. But when the police came, he was arrested instead.
Simon said: ‘Nicole told them I’d attacked her, even though she had no injuries. But I was much bigger and stronger, and they just believed her.’
Simon said he felt ashamed of how Nicole was treating him but wanted to keep their family together. Pictured: Nicole and Simon
Simon said Nicole attacked him during an argument in 2018, however he was arrested because she blamed him and police took her word for it
Simon (pictured) said he lost two stones in weight and became very anxious after being arrested, although the case was later dropped
Simon was arrested but the case was later dropped.
‘The impact of the arrest was massive for me. I found it extremely traumatic. I lost 2st in weight, and I was very anxious,’ he recalled.
‘The sense of injustice was huge. She’d attacked me maybe 25 times, and I had never laid a finger on her. Yet I was the one who was arrested.’
Simon went back to Nicole, believing her promises to change, but the violence continued.
He said: ‘I felt I had to give her one last chance. But in effect our relationship just got worse; every time we argued, she would threaten to call the police, knowing that she could have me arrested.’
In October 2019, Simon filed for divorce after a violent row which he filmed but did not report to police.
Simon filed for divorce from Nicole (pictured) in October 2019, while struggling to remain on friendly terms for the sake of their children
‘We tried to stay on friendly terms, for the sake of the kids. But it was tough,’ he admitted.
Early in February 2020, Nicole’s beauty school was accused of scamming hundreds of students. The company was later liquidated.
In October 2020, he met a new partner.
Simon said: ‘I knew Nicole had been seeing other men, which was fine. But as soon as she heard I’d met a new partner, she flipped.’
In December 2020, on a snowy night, Simon and his new girlfriend were at home in bed.
‘I got an alert on my phone that there was someone outside and I knew it was Nicole,’ he said. ‘I found her high heel shoes outside and realised she had climbed up the outside wall of the house.
‘She got in and lunged at me and hit me at the side of my head. My ear was ringing. She ran upstairs and began battering my new girlfriend, pulling her hair extensions out.
Nicole was given a two-year restraining order and 12-month community order after admitting to two counts of assault. Pictured: Simon and ex-wife Nicole
‘I was frightened to restrain her, because of what had happened in the past.
‘I just had to stand there and let Nicole continue attacking us both.’
Nicole Clarke appeared before Chesterfield Magistrates on June 17. She admitted two counts of assault by beating following the attack and was handed a two-year restraining order along with a 12-month community order including 120 hours unpaid work.
Simon said: ‘My relationship broke down as a result of the attack and I’m focussing on our daughters now. I’m bringing them up as a single dad.
‘It’s a horrendous situation for any man or woman to be in. I didn’t want to break my family up. I had no confidence in the police; they just took Nicole’s side until eventually the evidence was so stacked against her that they couldn’t ignore it.
‘There’s more and more men suffering with this and there ought to be more support.’