More women face abuse nightmare
Number of attacks in homes soared late last year
Police have revealed a dramatic rise in the number of women at t a c ke d in their Renfrewshire homes.
The number of domestic abuse cases has rocketed by 14 per cent in the latter part of 2016, a shocking report reveals.
Between April and October, there were 1,385 incidents of domestic abuse report to police, compared to only 1,217 incidents in the same period of the year before.
The Express revealed Brute Robert Crichton, 38, was caged for seven months in December for terrorising his partner Jacqueline McWhirter at her home in the town’s Grampian Avenue.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard Crichton, who has a record of domestic abuse, forced his victim to barricade herself inside the home as he attempted to kick his way into her property.
While fiend Grier Sweetin, 24, brutally attacked his bloodstained girlfriend Natanya Feeney, 21, after telling her: “If I can’t have you, nobody will.”
Sweetin was locked up for 18 months at Paisley Sheriff Court in December after head-butting and choking his victim during the attack at the town’s Clarence Street.
And swaggering bully John Paul Wylie, 33, who flicked a cigarette into his ex-partner’s eye and attacked another woman, was caged for 10 months.
The self-employed businessman was found guilty of being mentally and physically abusive against victims Islay McAuley and Suzanne McLeary at the the town’s Sheriff Court last October.
Councillor Mags MacLaren yesterday hailed the figures as a wake-up call to the authorities that more must be done about keeping women safe in the home.
She said: “It is a concern that there has been a rise of 13.8 per cent of the number of domestic abuse cases reported to the police.
“These figures highlight that there is still more to do to make people realise that domestic abuse is not acceptable.”
The report also revealed a five per cent rise in the number of crimes arising from domestic abuse incidents, up to 828 in April to October 2016, from 790 in the same period of the year before.
The findings emerged in the report that went to the council’s housing and community safety policy board.
Under the Violence, Disorder and Antisocial Behaviour heading, police said the spike in attacks could be down to an improvement in the “public’s confidence,” but tackling abuse in the home remains a priority.
The report said: “The number of domestic abuse incidents reported to police continues to rise. As a high priority for police, this is a positive reflection of the public’s confidence to report these offences.
“This number also reflects victims reporting numerous offences and offences of historical domestic abuse incidents.”
Councillor MacLaren, SNP member for Paisley North West, added: “Although there is a concern that there has been an increase in the number of domestic abuse cases reported to the police, part of this increase may be that people are more confident to report such abuse when it happens.
“There have been a number of campaigns to encourage victims of domestic abuse to come forward and this may have had an impact in some of the figures but it is still important that anyone who feels threatened with domestic abuse comes forward.”
The findings also show a drop in the number of reports resulting in crime being recorded, down to 44 per cent in latter 2016, from the same period in 2015.
Rae Gilbert, an outreach worker at Renfrewshire Women’s Aid, expressed concern at the rise in cases.
She said: “This is a huge concern to see such a large rise in the number of women reporting incidents of abuse.
“I can say we are consistently busy throughout the year, so this may be down to better levels of reporting. But again I would to stress the importance for any women to come forward and contact us if they are involved in domestic abuse.”