‘Google him, he is an ignorant man, he is jealous, he does not like to be ignored’ ...victim of scissor attack tells of ordeal with abuser
Spurned man grabbed wife by throat and cut her dreadlocks
A VICTIM of domestic violence has told of her horrific experience after having her throat grabbed and having her dreadlocks cut off.
Mother-of-three Odette TaylorPalmer was pinned down at her home in Sinfin and subjected to a brutal attack by her husband last year. He put his hands around her throat and cut off her hair with scissors.
Mrs Taylor-Palmer had spent 20 years of her life growing and looking after her prized dreadlocks, and says she will never grow them again because they remind her of her attacker. She says the assault left her distraught and in tears.
Now, Mrs Taylor-Palmer has spoken out about her abuse to spread the word about her husband.
Attacker Mark Palmer, who works in a supermarket, narrowly avoided an immediate prison sentence earlier this month. After hearing his case on September 8, Judge Nirmal Shant QC at Derby Crown Court gave 56-year-old Palmer 28 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.
Mrs Taylor-Palmer, a fitness instructor, warned anyone who might come into contact with Palmer, who is known as Marcus to his friends.
She said: “Google him. He is a very, very, very ignorant man. He is jealous. He does not like to be ignored. He has to be the centre of attention.”
Mrs Taylor-Palmer said Palmer’s suspended jail sentence was not harsh enough on Palmer, and pointed out he had a previous sentence against her for battery in 2011. This was confirmed in court when he appeared for the recent offence.
She said: “I think he got away with it because I didn’t go to court. He should have got a custodial sentence.”
Mrs Taylor-Palmer told how, when they first began their relationship in 1999, Palmer seemed like a kind and caring man.
She said: “He was a good man when I met him. He was very polite and very kind. He was very good with my kids when they were little.”
But when they married in 2011, Mrs Taylor-Palmer claims he changed to become loud and abusive.
She said: “As soon as I had the ring on, it was like: ‘You belong to me now.’”
Mrs Taylor-Palmer said he attacked her at home after a family get-together in 2011.
He was dealt with in court for that offence but she said she eventually took him back after he apologised for his actions because she was willing to give him a second chance.
But Palmer never improved his behaviour, Mrs Taylor-Palmer claims.
Over the next few years, she claims she called police a number of times when his anger and abuse became too much. But she could never leave him, she said, as he was not the type of person to simply let her go.
She then explained the events of the night of abuse which happened on October 12, last year, after which she decided enough was enough.
Mrs Taylor-Palmer claims they had all but divorced, living in the same house but on different floors.
She said that on the day of the incident a good friend called her on the phone.
Mrs Taylor-Palmer said: “I put her on speakerphone and started talking to her and laughing with her about all sorts. Marcus walked in while I was talking with her and started screaming at her down the phone.
“We were both telling him to calm down and go away. Eventually he went but he came back and then started to strangle me. He just jumped on me. He came from nowhere.
“I grabbed the back of his hair. He’s got thick dreadlocks and I locked my arm straight so he couldn’t lean into me but he did lean in so he must have ripped his hair.
“That’s when he let me go. I heard him take my keys and go out and lock the door. I checked and he had taken my car keys and the back door key and locked me in so I couldn’t go anywhere.
“Around 15 or 20 minutes later he came back in. That’s when he pinned me down and cut my hair off.”
Mrs Taylor-Palmer described sitting in shock as Palmer approached her, scissors in hand. She claim claims: “When I looked round r and saw him w with the scissors in his hand, I did didn’t know what he was going to do to me. I just lo looked away and braced for what was going to c come.
“H “He cut my hair off and he was shouting at me m after that. I couldn’t ld ’t h hear what h he was saying, but there was something about ‘you’re no Rasta, you shouldn’t have dreads’.
“I don’t proclaim to be a Rasta. But my hair is something I’ve looked after and cared for.
“I got up, slowly, face down looking at the floor, and he jumped in front of me, still screaming.
“He stepped back and let me go through the door. I went upstairs and sat down and then I started crying, tears running down my face as I looked at myself in the mirror.
“One side was completely gone, the other side was half the length. It was on my shoulders as opposed to being down my back.”
Mrs Taylor Palmer said she cut the rest of her hair off to even it out, before barricading herself in her room to protect herself from another attack.
The next morning, she went to the hairdresser and had hair extensions put in to hide the damage.
She said: “It was horrific. I managed to keep working for three weeks, then I broke down and had to have two months off work. I had no money, no income because of that.”
Mrs Taylor-Palmer says her hair was precious to her: “My hair was my crowning glory. I’ve been growing it for 20 years. It was really thick and I didn’t have many grey hairs. I was devastated. Absolutely devastated and shocked.”
Mrs Taylor-Palmer said: “I’ll never put it in dreads again. It’s something that reminds me of him.”