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My ex wasn’t happy when I started seeing someone else. But I had no idea how far he’d go to break us up. By Courtney Hill, 25
I stood in front of the mirror and carefully applied my black eyeliner. But when I turned around, I saw my fiancé Joseph scowling at me.
‘You look better without it,’ he said.
So I reached for a wipe and removed it.
When we’d first got together five years earlier, things had been good. Joseph was my first boyfriend and I was head over heels.
‘You’re my missing puzzle piece,’ he’d say.
But we’d recently moved into our first place together and he’d started making little digs, like this one about my make-up.
Then one evening soon after, my mum said: ‘I don’t like the way he looks at you. He watches your every move. It’s creepy.’
I defended him, but when my friends started saying the same thing, I began to feel uneasy.
Joseph had definitely become more possessive, always wanting to know where I was going and who with.
He began pushing for us to get married, encouraging me to go to wedding fairs and pick out dresses. But I told him I wanted a long engagement.
One day, I came home from my job at a local primary school to find my iPad was locked from too many failed passcode attempts.
‘Have you done this?’ I asked Joseph.
He shrugged and said: ‘I’m just trying to protect you.’
‘I don’t need protecting,’ I told him.
After that, things only got worse. One day, I walked in the door and found Joseph furious.
‘Why have you been cheating on me?’ he demanded.
My mouth fell open. He was the only person I’d ever been with.
‘I haven’t been seeing anyone else,’ I replied.
‘Liar!’ he roared.
Then he slapped me across the face.
‘You’re dirty and disgusting!’ he screamed.
I was frozen in shock.
For hours, he ranted at me. When I tried to raise my voice to argue with him and make him see sense, it just made him angrier. So in the end I stayed quiet.
Eventually we went to bed, but I didn’t sleep a wink.
The next morning, I got up quietly, hoping to get out before he woke too.
But he saw me and snarled: ‘Where are you going?’
‘I’m going to work,’ I said.
Then he lunged towards me and grabbed my neck. Pinning me down on the bed, he began throttling me, only stopping when I began to choke.
Suddenly, tears filled his eyes and he stopped.
I was in shock, but I managed to grab my bag and run out of the house.
That’s it, I thought. We’re over.
I made plans to stay with my family and they were glad I was getting away from him.
When I went to pick up my stuff that evening, I braced myself for more abuse. But instead, Joseph was apologetic.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he wept. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’
‘I’m getting my stuff and going home,’ I told him. ‘I need space.’
‘OK,’ he sniffed. ‘Let me drive you.’
As he dropped me off at my parents’ house he handed me my bags.
‘When are you coming home?’ he asked.
‘I’m not,’ I said, slamming the car door.
I turned on my heel and rushed to the front door in case he got angry again.
Luckily, my dad had seen us pull up and unlocked the door so I could walk straight in.
Once I was safely inside, I collapsed to the floor in tears.
When I told Mum what Joseph had done, she said: ‘You need to report this to the police, he could have seriously hurt you.’
It took a few days, but eventually I reported him.
While they investigated, I stayed with my parents and tried to focus on myself.
About three months later, I was scrolling through Facebook when a friend request popped up. It was a guy named Ross. I didn’t know him, but he was good-looking, so I accepted.
Before long we began messaging and found out we had loads in common.
At first, I wondered if I was being catfished. I was paranoid that Joseph could be behind the account, but when I spoke to Ross on the phone my fears were put to bed.
He had a kind voice and immediately I felt I could trust him.
A couple of weeks later, we met up in person for the first time and I told him about my previous relationship.
‘I hope it doesn’t scare you off,’ I said.
‘Not a chance,’ Ross said.
From then on, we spent every day together. Ross was level-headed and calm, the complete opposite of Joseph. It was a breath of fresh air.
One day, Ross and I were walking around town when I noticed a familiar face. It was Joseph, skulking behind us.
He kept following us. But I felt safe with Ross beside me.
‘Just ignore him,’ Ross said.
One afternoon, we decided to go for a walk in the countryside when a white Ford zoomed past us, flashing its headlights.
‘That’s Joseph’s car,’ I told Ross in a panic.
‘Don’t react,’ he replied.
But as the car zoomed by again, I caught a glimpse of Joseph’s smirking face through the windscreen. It sent a shiver down my spine.
We ignored his taunts and carried on walking.
Eventually we came to a narrow country lane.
‘I think we’ve lost him,’ I said, breathing a sigh of relief.
But 10 minutes later, I heard the sound of Joseph’s blaring music again. As it got louder, I squeezed Ross’s hand.
‘He’s back,’ I said.
We turned around to find Joseph driving towards us at an alarming speed.
His car skidded past, missing us by inches.
‘This isn’t OK, we need to ring the police,’ Ross said.
The police told us to find a main road, so we started walking back on ourselves. But once again, the music from Joseph’s car came within earshot.
He had us cornered. We had no choice but to push ourselves into a hedge as Joseph drove directly at us.
‘He’s trying to kill us!’ I yelled, as the car ploughed into us.
I was sent flying over the car bonnet and hit my head on the ground.
Everything went hazy. My hearing was heightened and I could hear the sound of gravel scuffling and loud voices.
Joseph was attacking Ross, but I was too weak to help him. Luckily, bystanders saw what had happened and rushed over to break it up.
Then Joseph got back in his car and drove off.
An ambulance arrived and I was taken to hospital. Thankfully, I had no serious injuries, but doctors checked me for concussion and monitored me.
The police took statements from me and Ross, and once I was allowed to leave hospital we went to stay with his parents to recover.
In time, Joseph Priscott, 24, of Bideford, Devon, appeared in Exeter Crown Court and admitted dangerous driving and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm.
He’d wiped his dashcam of the footage, but had told his new girlfriend he was trying to kill me.
Joseph was jailed for four years, and banned from driving for 18 months after his release. He was also given a 10-year restraining order to keep him away from us.
Although I was relieved he was being locked up, I couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t for long enough. While we were only left with cuts and bruises, he could easily have killed us that day.
We’re looking forward to living our lives in peace now.
That monster tried to tear our relationship apart with his out-of-control jealousy. But all he’s really done is make us stronger than ever.