Perth woman speaks out about domestic abuse

been supporting her in her recovery and even encouraged her to go to the police about her abusive ex-boyfriend.

Lauren said: “Every time I got into a new relationship I would freak out because I kept having memories of things.

“If I did anything wrong I would completely over-react.

“My new partner and I have been together for four years and he couldn’t understand why I was upset when I did something minor because I didn’t know how to behave and I wasn’t used to not having to ask for permission to do things, and not having the fear when I got home and put my hand on the door handle thinking ‘What is he going to be like tonight?’

“It has been a big adjustment, because home is where you should feel most relaxed.

“It was difficult for my new partner but he went and did all this research and made a list of fun things for us to do every day.

“I don’t know how I would have coped with everything without him – it was his idea to go to the police.”

Lauren said she didn’t think to go to the police about her ex-boyfriend, even though her counsellor had suggested it to her.

She went to the police in October 2015 and Scott was arrested in February 2016.

The day before he was due in court Scott, who worked as a university researcher, put in a guilty plea and escaped jail with nine months of community service and given a £500 fine.

Lauren continued: “It was horrendous – it was not an easy thing to do.

“I was not looking forward to it, but I am glad my family didn’t have to listen to all the evidence – they only knew dribs and drabs of it.

“Although I was disappointed it still counts as a guilty plea – I still had to go through 15 months of court and it was only one day we missed.

“I don’t think prison sentences are necessarily helpful because that is an extremely masculine environment and has been shown to not be very useful.

“Traditional counselling is also not the best option for abusers because they have such an inflated sense of self, they think their needs come first, so counselling just gives them a platform to talk about themselves, which is not