Trapped in Hell: would i Ever Manage To Escape Him?
Iwas only 15 and still at school when I met Rick Pritchard through friends. Twice my age, Rick was a bricklayer with his own flat.
He was a bad boy, a joker, and well-known in Bedfordshire where I lived. I was flattered he was interested in me.
And young, naive and impressionable, I loved hanging out at his flat after school.
I knew my mum wouldn’t approve, so I told her I was at a friend’s house.
And I kept our friendship a secret from her.
When I left school, Rich grew protective, preferred me to invite my friends round to his place, rather than go out with them.
On the rare occasions I did meet mates for dinner, he’d stand outside the restaurant, waiting for me to finish.
Then, after 18 months together, I started working as a beauty therapist.
He insisted I went straight from work to his flat, or made me text a picture when I got home to Mum’s.
Prove you’re in your own bed, not with someone else, he’d text.
I’d do it, anything for an easy life. Even so, in the morning I’d wake to jealous messages. You’re sleeping with other men. Ridiculous.
I lived with my mum, I only had eyes for him.
He’s insecure, I told myself. Needs reassuring.
So I didn’t protest when he rigged up my iphone so that he could track where I was on the location settings.
I’d nothing to hide, after all. He even synched up my iphone, so that he got every single message, email and call that I received.
And if he didn’t like them? Rick would go berserk. Yelling, threatening, and belittling me.
By now, his possessiveness was really wearing me down.
But I didn’t dare argue with him. He was 6ft tall and had a bad temper.
So even when he kept asking me to lend him money, I didn’t say no. Even though I knew I’d never get it back.
I was constantly walking on eggshells with him, never knew when he’d blow up next.
And then, when I was 16, Mum found out we were together, and insisted that I stop seeing him.
But Rick was so controlling, I was afraid of what he might do.
To me, or to Mum…
So I kept seeing him, told Mum I was out with mates instead.
Terrified
Then, one day this February I was at Rick’s flat, and was scrolling through some pictures on my phone.
‘What was that?’ he demanded crossly.
‘It was a picture of my cleavage piercing,’ I replied.
I had the centre of my chest, between my boobs, pierced with a fancy diamond stud bar.
‘Show me the picture,’ he barked, insistent.
As I scrolled back through to that picture, he started yelling loudly at me.
‘What the f**k are you doing?’ he raged. ‘You’re purposely not showing it to me.’
Then he snatched my phone, smashed it into pieces.
Suddenly, something inside me snapped.
I’d put up with his abusive behaviour for long enough. ‘I’m going,’ I said.
Back at Mum’s, I broke down, and told her everything that had happened.
‘We’ve got to go to the police,’ she said firmly to me.
So that’s what we did – and Rick was arrested, given a restraining order.
Terrified that he’d want revenge, I changed my phone number. But, somehow, he got hold of my new one.
You’ve just pulled into your drive, he’d message, letting me know that I was being watched.
He told me to ‘ be careful’ and threatened sexual violence.
I couldn’t go out without looking over my shoulder.
I told the police and Rick was arrested again.
Then, this June, Pritchard appeared on videolink at Luton Crown Court, pleading guilty to exercising coercive and controlling behaviour.
The judge jailed him
Amiah’s controlling boyfriend was always watching… Walking on eggshells, I never knew when he’d blow up next
for 18 months, plus four months to run consecutively, for breaching a restraining order issued after an offence of criminal damage where he smashed my phone.
As well as the 22-month prison term, he received an indefinite restraining order, restricting his access to certain areas of Bedfordshire.
When I found out that he was the first person in Bedfordshire to be convicted of the charge, I felt relieved, and proud that I’d finally stood up to him.
Way out
Now I’m telling my story to show other women that there is a way out.
It is possible to escape from abusers like Rick Pritchard.
After he went to prison,
I was assigned a Domestic Violence support worker, and medication for anxiety.
These days, I’m happy to say I’m doing much better.
I wasted four years of my life with that controlling scumbag.
Now he’s behind bars I’ve finally got my life back.
And I won’t let anyone take that away from me again.