An abusive boyfriend, who kicked his naked girlfriend down the stairs and knocked her out after she got a Christmas text from a family friend, has been jailed.
Grace Weatherill, 19, from Middlesbrough, says she was once stripped naked before being punched and kicked down the stairs by her boyfriend Cassius Harrison.
She opened up about her horrific ordeal to encourage other women to speak up after seeing her former partner jailed for 20 months.
Ms Weatherill says she was terrified when Harrison, 19, lashed out after she received a text from a family friend who was simply wishing her a happy Christmas.
Harrison is then said to have knocked Ms Weatherill unconscious with a single blow leaving her to wake up on the bedroom floor.
Grace Weatherill, 19, from Middlesbrough, says she was once stripped naked before being punched and kicked down the stairs by her boyfriend Cassius Harrison
Ms Weatherill, from Normanby, said: ‘He had gone through my phone when I had gonedownstairs and found a text from a friend of mine who he didn’t like.
‘I walked back into the room and he literally jumped on me. He headbutted me and knocked me out and even told me go to hospital when I came round because my nose would not stop bleeding.’
Ms Weatherill claims that after suffering violence at the hands of Harrison for more than a year, she found the strength to finally report him.
Harrison, of Blairgowrie, Marton, was jailed for 20 months for five separate assault charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Teesside Crown Court.
Ms Weatherill, said: ‘I can honestly say that I have never been so scared of someone in all of my life. At first, things were good between us, but he soon became possessive and controlling.
‘I thought I would never escape him and at the time I was frightened to go to anyone for help or protection as I feared that something worse would happen.
‘He made me feel like I didn’t have a place in the world and that I was worthless.’
Ms Weatherill continued: ‘I don’t leave the house alone now, when I get in my car I lock the doors, if my garden gate slams I think it’s him and I can’t sleep, I am a nervous wreck, living in fear 24/7.
Former Nunthorpe Academy student Ms Weatherill, says she knew she had to get away from Harrison for good when he forcibly removed all her clothes and threw her down the stairs
‘He used to hurt me physically and mentally and would often stand over me and tell me I was ugly or fat.
‘I used to sometimes tell myself that all the abuse and beatings would be half acceptable if I had actually done something wrong. He would make me believe I had done something wrong. But I never left the house as I wasn’t allowed to, I wasn’t allowed to socialise with friends or even go to the bingo with my mum.’
Former Nunthorpe Academy student Ms Weatherill, says she knew she had to get away from Harrison for good when he forcibly removed all her clothes and threw her down the stairs.
She said: ‘I was round his house when we started arguing over something stupid.
‘He locked me in the house and took my bag and phone, then he ripped off my clothes so I was completely naked. I actually thought this time he was going to kill me.
Ms Weatherill, who works as a health care assistant as Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital, told how she has finally started to get her life back on track, and is now reaching out to other victims to speak out
‘He kicked me up and down the stairs repeatedly until I curled up into a ball in hope he would think I was unconscious.
‘I then heard him running the bath with scalding hot water and him shouting down the stairs, ‘you just watch what I’m going to do next.’
‘I could see the landing filling with hot steam and I knew he wanted to hurt me.
‘At one point he even got a knife from the kitchen and threatened to slice my face open so ‘no one would want to look at me’.’
Ms Weatherill managed to distract Harrison while she climbed through a small window to get away.
‘I knew I had to get out of the house. I was embarrassed to be naked but I made it to my car. It was like something out of a horror film.’
Ms Weatherill, who works as a health care assistant as Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital, told how she has finally started to get her life back on track, and is now reaching out to other victims to speak out.
‘I would never want anyone to go through what I have done – I thought that I was going to die.
‘I just hope by telling my story I can encourage others to tell the police and get justice.
‘I am self conscious about my scars and they will never go away but it is a small price to pay for what could have happened to me.
‘People need to know that no matter how sorry someone is or how much they love you, these people will never change.
‘I’m lucky I got away when I did as I probably wouldn’t be here to tell my story today.’