Campaign to help vulnerable

POLICE got in touch with Debbie Carnegie following a complaint from another woman, with seven women eventually testifying in court.

Mark Duthie had an appeal denied earlier this year and Debbie has now started an online support group to try and prevent other youngsters falling onto toxic relationships.

“I want children to be aware of narcissistic traits,” she said.

“I want them to know what to look for before they are deeply involved. I want to protect other kids from experiencing what I experienced.

“I’ve tried to instil in my children what they should and shouldn’t accept in a relationship because I wasn’t aware of boundaries.

“I don’t understand why there isn’t anything in place now. Domestic abuse has been around forever, and in the past it was accepted but it was secret and hidden.

“Now you have Clare’s Law and things like that, which helps to an extent. But why can’t we teach kids? They have sex education, so why can’t there be a class like that, where you are taught to recognise narcissistic traits and about boundaries?

“Narcissistic people are hunters – they seek out their prey. They look for the weak and the vulnerable. They look for people in bad situations.

“They seek that out and they thrive on knowing what they can do to that person. They have that person as a puppet on a string, able to do whatever they want to them. If I can save just one girl – or boy – from the grips of abuse I’ve done something.”

She advises any teenager who is questioning their relationship to get out.

“If it doesn’t feel right, walk away,” she said.

“If your gut is telling you you are not happy and you are not allowed to be you, walk away.

“If you can see it for what it is from the get-go you are losing nothing, but you gain your life.

“I didn’t care about who I was as a person for a long time and I don’t want anybody else’s kids to feel the way I feel.

“I’m trying to be who I think I would have been before Mark.”