I was like Corrie Yas .. in denial over thug boyfriend

HE SET DOG ON ME

With no motor-boats shipping tourists in and out, the waters of Venice have gone from murky brown to crystal clear.

Peer down at the sandy lagoon bed and you see shoals of fish, scuttling crabs and multicoloured plant life.

Air pollution has dropped sharply around the globe.

In China, the reduced road traffic and industrial activity may prevent 100,000 pollution-related premature deaths.

That’s more lives saved than will die from Covid-19 in the superpower state.

The global carbon dioxide emissions fuelling climate change are set to drop by 5% over the course of the year.

That’s more than emissions slumps triggered by the big recessions of the last 50 years combined.

The Himalayas have become visible from some towns in the north of India for the first time in decades.

Thanks to reduced levels of smog from cars and industry, locals in Punjab have been startled by the views of the snow-capped peaks.

Rare wildflowers and the UK’s declining bee populations are set to get a boost as many councils are not cutting verges.

They are home to 45% of UK flora, including 700 species of flowers, as meadows have been lost to land use.

HORROR : Lucy’s injuries. And below, soap Geoff and Yasmeen

A BRUTE left his girlfriend needing more than 30 stitches in her face and scarred for life when he set a dog on her on her birthday.

Lucy Jackson-Stifanese, 31, fell for “charming” Ben Robertson after meeting on Tinder and within weeks they were living together.

But three months later he hit her for the first of many times.

Lucy was in denial and stayed with Ben – until she used Clare’s Law to find out if he had a record for domestic violence. A police officer warned her: “Leave now or you will die.”

Her story echoes the plight of Coronation Street’s Yasmeen Metcalfe, who is controlled and abused by husband Geoff.

Yasmeen also finds out her partner’s abusive history through the Clare’s Law scheme, but she can’t bring herself to leave him.

This week, viewers will see her finally crack under the pressure.

Lucy, a PE and swimming teacher, said: “Ben seemed to be everything I ever wanted. I was smitten and soon afterwards we moved in together.

“It was small changes at first. He’d tell me not to wear make-up.”

But – as police often warn victims – it didn’t take long for the emotional abuse to turn physical.

Lucy – pictured, inset above, with Ben – said: “After one argument the neighbours heard the shouting and saw him being violent to me and rang the police. He had dragged me out of bed naked and put me on the balcony.” On Lucy’s 31st birthday last July, Ben set a dog on her.

She said: “It was a Staffordshire bull terrier he’d brought home to look after.

“We argued as I wanted to go to see my family, and he ordered the dog: ‘Go for her!’

“I needed over 30 stitches to my face and arm, a blood transfusion and plastic surgery.” Despite that Lucy, of Essex, stayed with Ben. It wasn’t until she was told he had abused four other women and even been sent to prison twice that she finally saw sense.

She said: “The police officer said Ben had locked one woman inside a house and hit another repeatedly with a bottle. But I didn’t want to believe any of it.

“The police officer replied, ‘I’m promising you, Lucy. If you don’t leave him now, you’ll end up dead.’”

Lucy pressed charges, with a court hearing fixed for January 8 – but in December last year Ben took his own life, aged 36.

Now, after seeing the Coronation Street storyline, she is urging any women who suspect their partner is mistreating them to contact police.

She said: “If you have any doubt whatsoever about the person you’re with, get them checked out under Clare’s Law. It could save your life.”