Mum bravely shares horrific facial injuries inflicted by her violent partner
A mum who was beaten up by her boyfriend has bravely shared photos of her horrific injuries.
Karl Machin, 44, filmed himself breaking her jaw and eye socket, meaning she was unable to close her left eyelid properly.
He also left her with a brain injury, nerve and tissue damage to her face which changed her smile, two black eyes and bruising to her legs, ribs and back.
There was so much blood that officers who attended the scene on December 4 thought her hair was the colour red.
The woman, who does not want to be named, said the psychological damage of the attack in her own home in Blackpool, Lancashire, ‘has been just as horrific’ as the physical.
She said: ‘The trauma and psychological distress this has caused me is immeasurable.
‘I suffer with flashbacks, nightmares. I also am experiencing trauma responses and triggering such as hypervigilance, hyper-arousal, anxiety, and very distressing panic attacks.
‘I am nervous in big crowds and do not like being in enclosed spaces, especially with men around.
‘I am on edge and feel exposed and unsafe, always looking over my shoulder in case someone is behind me who might hurt me.
‘I struggle to sleep due to nightmares as even in my sleep I relive what happened to me.’
She thinks she has ‘no real idea of the true emotional impact’ of what happened to her yet, but she knows it will leave her with ‘lifelong repercussions on her self-confidence and esteem’.
The mum said: ‘But I am striving and trying my best to regain some of the old me back. I do however feel that I have had my safety and peace of mind robbed from me.
‘I do not feel I am not safe here in my home anymore, as it is now stained and tainted with the traumatic memories of what happened in it.
‘As well as living with fear of my assailant searching me out or finding out things about me and my son.
‘Finally, I must now try to rebuild myself and my life and try to come to terms with the fact I am never going to ever be the same person I was.
‘I am irrevocably changed and feel I have had some of the best parts of me taken away and obliterated.’
Machin, also from Blackpool, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and was jailed for seven years and two months.
Detective Jo Clement said: ‘Karl Machin subjected his victim to a brutal, severe and life-changing assault which left her not only with horrific injuries but with lasting psychological damage too.
‘He is clearly an extremely violent individual and I welcome both the custodial sentence and the restraining order imposed by the court.
‘I would like to praise the victim for having the courage to speak about what happened to her and to be prepared to go through the court process.
‘I hope her bravery will give other women who may be in violent or abusive relationships the confidence to come forward and report it to police safe in the knowledge we will investigate professionally and sensitively and that we will seek to put offenders before the courts and get justice for victims.’
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