‘Beckhams drove me to suicide bid’
HEARTBREAK AFTER SPLIT FROM DAVID’S SISTER
THE ex of David Beckham’s sister has revealed he tried to kill himself after a major fallout with the family.
Kris Donnelly, who has a little girl called Peggy with the former England football captain’s sister Joanne, 37, says the dispute led him to take an overdose.
Kris today reveals he hit rock bottom after he claims he was prevented from seeing his daughter.
The 33-year-old says trauma started during their relationship – during which he alleges she was abusive to him. He also says he felt betrayed by David, who he claims turned his back on him after the separation. Months after the split, he then went to the kitchen drawer where his mum kept all her painkillers and tried to end it all.
Kris placed his daughter’s passport picture, first comforter and one of her socks under his pillow before taking the pills, hoping he would never wake up.
He said: “I don’t really know what I was doing, I just wanted to go to sleep and not wake up.
“There were a load of tablets and I just grabbed as many as I could. I stuffed them into my pocket before saying goodnight to my parents and going upstairs.
“I then took the tablets and went to sleep not knowing what would happen.
“I woke up the next day and felt groggy, sick and shaky. But that I could deal with, because it was nothing like the pain I’d been feeling for months.
“I’d been feeling upset for so long that it was a relief to feel something different.
“I often look back at that time and there were moments when I did think I’d have been better off dead.” Luckily Kris, whose mum is a portage worker and sister is a children’s nurse, realised the enormity of what he’d done and found the strength to ask for help.
He added: “I went straight to my GP and told her how I was feeling. Within three weeks I was in group therapy.”
The 2009 Big Brother contestant claims that Joanne used “coercive and controlling” behaviour during their relationship.
He alleges he was attacked by her. On one occasion, he says Joanne threw a Sky remote at him. It hit him in the face and left a mark under his eye.
Kris said: “I was suffering in silence. I’ve since found out that suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45.
“And I’m hoping by speaking out, even if I help just one person, then it would’ve been worth it. I could no longer be in a controlling relationship.”
Kris reveals how David, who he says
‘I look back and there were moments when I did think I’d have been better off dead’
he had been great friends with, turned his back on him after the split.
He said: “He told me that he didn’t want me speaking about his family.”
He also claims Joanne cancelled a pre-arranged meeting with him at the last minute over Christmas.
He believes it was because he had posted a picture of Peggy on social media.
Yet Becks, 43, had posted a snap of the one-year-old tot to his 53million Instagram followers weeks earlier.
Kris also revealed that Joanne’s mum Sandra often referred to him as the “donor”, despite him being in a relationship with Joanne.
He added: “I overheard Sandra refer to me as the donor. Even when she was about to give birth Sandra said, ‘He’s just the donor’.”
Joanne and Kris split six months after the birth of their child. He has been vocal on social media, accusing his ex of restricting access.
Kris is an ambassador for Fathers4Justice, which campaigns to get dads better access to their children.
A spokesperson for the Beckhams declined to comment when approached by the Daily Star Sunday.