Friends reunited to stop abusers
VICTIMS WANT TO STOP
TWO school pals preyed on by the same bully want domestic violence abusers barred from dating websites.
Marianne Knight and Tracey Thompson are calling for a national register of abusers after sick George Ward made their lives a misery.
The 37 year olds, who had not seen each other since school 20 years before, both fell for Ward on dating website Plenty of Fish.
He played one off against the other and behind his charming manner was a jealous, controlling and violent streak.
After months of physical and emotional abuse, police caught him waiting in the dark, holding a three-inch blade, for Marianne at her home in Grimsby, Lincs.
He had also threatened to set her pregnant daughter’s house on fire.
In June last year Ward admitted stalking his ex-partner and assaulting a police officer and was jailed for 18 months as well as given an indefinite restraining order.
Marianne was shocked to discover he had 53 previous offences, including for criminal damage and fraud. She and Tracey are now campaigning for a national register of men convicted of domestic abuse and stalking who use dating sites.
She said: “Men like Ward can easily move on and pick up women on dating sites then start their abusive cycle all over again.
“Their victims are simply women looking for love and have no idea of their previous history.
“The register would protect women from getting involved with abusers in the first place.
“The UK has a list of sex offenders, so why not a list of domestic abusers? If this country is serious about protecting women then it’s what needs to be done.” Tracey said: “It can take months to find out the background of people, especially if they have come from another area. They can go all over the country fairly safe in the knowledge their behaviour will go unknown to the general public.”
Mum-of-five Marianne fell for Ward after meeting him on Plenty of Fish in September 2014.
But her happiness was not to last and during a two-year relationship she says she suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse, even when she was pregnant with Ward’s son Caide, now two.
Jealous
She said: “I’d been on my own for a while when we met and he seemed so genuine and lovely. He said all the right things, complimented me and said he’d never met anyone like me. “He whisked me off to London soon after we met and told me he loved me on the London Eye. He convinced me to let him move in within weeks. “But things started to turn sour soon after. He was jealous of my male friends on Facebook and stopped me contacting them and he was soon telling me who I could and couldn’t talk to. “Looking back I should have left then, but I thought I loved him. Then he started hitting me, the odd punch here and there and insisted we have sex even if I didn’t want to. He’d be OK