MY DAUGHTER WAS BEATEN TO DEATH BY HER VIOLENT PARTNER
– but we still can’t lay her to rest, says devastated mother
AFTER her daughter was murdered, Tracey Bradbury had to return to her apartment and clean up her blood.
Her 27-year-old daughter Natasha never told her she was being domestically abused and now she was dead, having suffered catastrophic injuries at the hands of her partner Luke Jones.
“He’d [Jones] smashed up the place and there was blood all over the apartment. I had to clear out the apartment after that and wiped some of the blood from the house,” said Tracey.
A trial heard how Jones had inflicted injuries to Natasha’s neck, brain, liver, ribs and heart as he beat her to death.
Tracey said: “The first I heard that he was abusive was on the day she died. We still don’t know if he’d been beating her the whole time they were together or not. But she was black and blue after it.”
Three years on and the grief has taken a toll on the mum-of-four’s mental health. It has also caused financial struggles within the family as Tracey is currently off work and is raising Natasha’s young son.
She said: “It has been really hard money wise. We still haven’t paid off her funeral bill and she hasn’t even got a headstone on her grave.
“It just feels wrong that we are paying our taxes for him [Jones] in prison while we are struggling to get on with our everyday lives and struggling with money.”
Tracey said: “He [Jones] was always very quiet and we didn’t know him that well but he’d stayed over at my house and I thought that he loved her and loved her son. I could never imagine that he could do this to her.”
She said she will never forget the day she learnt her daughter had been beaten to death by the man who was supposed to love her.
It was February 23, 2016, and Tracey was helping her grandson get ready for school and went to her job in a care home in Pembrokeshire.
But a few hours later and Tracey’s husband Darren phoned and told her to come home immediately.
Tracey arrived home to members of her extended family and police vehicles parked outside.
Natasha’s body had been found in her home in Haverfordwest after onoff boyfriend of five years Jones had smashed the house and beaten her to death.
“When I walked through the door, the police asked if I was Tracey and I said yes and then they told me that Natasha had been murdered. I didn’t believe it and then straight away I asked ‘Who has done this to her? Do I know this person?’ and they said ‘Yes I know him’ and I said ‘It was Luke, wasn’t it.”
Jones was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment serving a minimum of 17 years.
Swansea Crown Court had heard how Natasha’s murder was motivated by possessiveness and jealousy.
“Natasha was the most lovable, funny, bright and bubbly girl,” said Tracey.
“She would have given you the last 10 pence she had in her purse. Everyone who met her loved her, and she didn’t deserve what happened to her. She was a daughter, a sister and a mum.
“I’m still watching the doors every day, waiting for her to walk through the door. I miss her every day and every day is a struggle. I can’t even explain to you what losing a child is like. I wouldn’t wish it on my enemies. I barely leave the house any more. It feels like I am the one in prison.”
Natasha’s childhood friend Chanice
Dowling, 24, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a headstone for her friend.
She said: “It would be a really big help to the family if they knew the community ty was behind them and that at there were still good people le in the world. I think it would ld just mean a lot that Natasha ha would finally have a nice ice place for her to rest.”
Tracey added: “I go up there here every week and right now there’s here’s just a cross there and I feel el like we haven’t really laid her to rest, so it would be a big weight t off our shoulders and she deserves s that.”
Tracey wants to encourage age more victims of domestic abuse e to speak out and ask for support.
She said: “Natasha was really private and never spoke to me about it, but victims need to speak out and get help. I know that’s easier said than done, but it just takes one time for an abuser to lose their temper r too much and explode, and that was it with Natasha, it was just one time me and that was all it took and we lost her.”