A woman who was forced to flee her home wrapped in bedsheets after she was attacked by her “monster” ex has slammed his soft two-year sentence.
Kirsty Schofield, 38, was assaulted by Bobby Stewart, 29, who was “obsessed” with the idea she had been cheating – just hours after he was released from police custody for a battering charge.
Four days later, on June 7, Stewart launched a second sustained attack on Kirsty which left her fearing for her life.
Stewart arrived at her home after a day of drinking and eventually “lost control” and repeatedly stamped on the mum-of-one’s head which left her slipping in and out of consciousness.
After a 30-minute stand-off, during which Kirsty begged Stewart to call an ambulance, she escaped to the safety of her neighbours, wearing only bed sheets.
The frantic call Kirsty placed to police from a neighbour’s home was later described by Judge Timothy Clayson at Bolton Crown Court as “one of the most desperate calls I have ever heard”.
Kirsty, of Bolton, Lancs., said: “I honestly didn’t think he was going to stop until he killed me.
“He looked evil and that’s when I saw him for what he was. Before I could always forgive him, but not after that.”
Kirsty says she suffered months of emotional and physical abuse from “paranoid” and “obsessive” Stewart who turned her into a nervous wreck which affected her work and isolated her from friends.
Vicious Stewart would check her phone daily, force her to block friends and family and even called her at work if she didn’t respond to his texts immediately.
Two months after the sustained attack, Kirsty watched as Stewart stuck two fingers up at the courtroom as he was sentenced via video link on what would have been their one year anniversary on August 21.
Now Kirsty is speaking out about their horrendous relationship and the ‘ridiculously’ short sentence saying, “he should have got longer”.
Kirsty said: “I actually met Bobby through his sister who I worked with last July and staggeringly she warned me off him.
“I didn’t listen though as in my eyes he was wonderful, but it didn’t take long for the abuse to start and after two months he started getting violent.
“It’s easy to say now that I’m at the other side I should have left him but I couldn’t. I thought he was the love of my life and I wanted to be there for him and fix him.”
The abuse continued and Stewart was finally arrested for assault by beating but Kirsty dropped the charges before the case went to trial in April.
Desperate to believe he had changed, “brainwashed” Kirsty took him back but despicable Stewart attacked Kirsty the day he was released on remand after he was convinced she had cheated.
Kirsty added: “I hoped jail would make him change his ways and when he called me saying he loved me and he was so sorry I believed every single word. I was brainwashed.
“So I naively dropped all charges but I was so so wrong, I should have left him to rot where he deserved to be.
“He wanted payback for me getting him locked up and he was obsessed with the idea I’d cheated on him. Which I would never do.
“He was screaming at me that he knew I had and he wouldn’t stop until I admitted it.
“He dragged me around my own home and demanded I didn’t go to work the next day as he didn’t want me to live his sight, he was so paranoid and controlling.”
Describing the final attack she said: “He had been drinking a burst into the flat again adamant about me been unfaithful and demanded that he look through my phone.
“Ridiculously, the last person who had called me was a taxi driver saying he was outside and he even rang the firm convinced I was having an affair with the taxi driver.
“His eyes were wild and he just saw red so I ran to the bathroom wrapped in bedsheets and cowered under the sink where he hit and kicked me and stamped on my head.
“I was sick and kept going in and out of consciousness and I begged him to call an ambulance but he just sat there and said I deserved it.”
Speaking of his sentence Kirsty said: “I felt relieved and brave reading out my statement. I don’t think he ever thought I’d be strong enough to do it.
“But two years is nothing for the torture I suffered. He should have got bl***y longer.
“He stuck two fingers up as he was sentenced which just proves he has no remorse.
“I am so glad he is out of my life now and I escaped his mind games.
“I am so proud of how strong I have been and I want to encourage any other victims of domestic abuse to speak out.”
ENDS
