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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

dh hit me, I called the police, and nobody has come. ..

202 replies

greenbananas · 17/01/2015 23:38

Just that really. My 6 year old told me I must call the police. This was a couple of hours ago. He stayed up as long as he could, but is now sleeping.

I don't know what I am going to say to the police if / when they come.

OP posts:
MyDogIsGorgeous · 18/01/2015 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 18/01/2015 16:27

I think you should start making plans to end your relationship.

If this was a one off, then it still will be a serious matter. However it could be forgiven.

He will not change and you should not have to walk on egg shells to keep the peace.

TheOnlyOliviaMumsnet · 18/01/2015 16:37

We've moved this to r'ships
Thanks
MNHQ

AnyFucker · 18/01/2015 16:54

I hope you can come back and tell us how you are doing, op

If your H gets arsey in any way at all, call 999

Beholdtheflorist · 18/01/2015 17:48

I did want to say one more thing.

One of the biggest reasons for non disclosure of DV is fear. Fear of your partner, fear of the unknown, fear offwhat is going to happen next. You've done a really really big thing in calling the police, a really really big, good thing and a really really scary thing. So well done. I know lots of people want you to move at a pace you might not be ready for and lots of people will give you lots of advice.

Which I'm going to do again, obviously. Get an IDVA. They will be on your side and look out for you and your kids and help you navigate the difficult and complicated road that might be ahead.

And I know this might be a massively unpopular thing to suggest but if your DH is going to be on his best behaviour then suggest he calls Respect (the perpetrator charity) and gets some support. I'm NOT suggesting you stay with him or excusing him but whatever happens in the future between you, he needs to look at what he is doing and take responsibility for it. particularly if he's to play any role in your children's lives.

AnotherGirlsParadise · 19/01/2015 04:22

OP, call the National Centre for Domestic Violence - 0844 8044 999. They helped me get an emergency injunction and appointed me a local solicitor who offered legal aid for DV. I got an injunction (or non-mol), an occupation order and a residency order, all within the week. Going to court was the hard bit.

The police in the county where I lived at the time have quite a proactive attitude towards DV, but for all the wrong reasons. There was a high profile case where a young woman was murdered by her partner, after repeated calls to the police over many months. They had numerous chances to arrest him, including in broad daylight when he was seen in a pub, but didn't because he 'posed a significant risk to the female officer'. You can imagine how THAT little gem went down when the actual victim was found dead.

After that, the police in that area went all out to campaign against DV. If only it'd always been that way.

YoullLikeItNotaLot · 19/01/2015 09:26

I felt sick reading this. OP, I know you are planning your exit strategy, but I don't think you should delude yourself about what your children already know

but never in front of the children before

They don't have to see it to know what's happening. They can hear. They can sense tension or the over the top making it up to you.

And I also think it would be irrelevant to your mindees parents whether the children have met your husband. If they knew that you had been hit on numerous occasions previously rightly or wrongly they could make assumptions about what your tolerance levels/boundaries are.

I don't want to pile in on what I'd obviously an awful time for you and your children, but I'm hoping if your resolve does weaken then you will be able to look at these posts and remember what you HAVE to do.

I can't stop thinking about your 6 year old.

AnyFucker · 19/01/2015 09:27

op, good luck with the phone calls today

you know what you need to do

JoanHickson · 19/01/2015 09:30

Another sending you the best , making the calls today .

kaykayred · 19/01/2015 09:57

OP, I'm sorry that you are getting flack for this, when you clearly don't need it right now.

A few points:

  1. The police women were not kind to you. It doesn't seem like they even did their jobs very well. It is one thing to say to someone "I'm sorry, but because you are clearly under the influence right now, we can't take a statement. We will have to arrange to do this when you are sober." It is quite another to ask if you have depression (RELEVANCE????) and saying that you are "all over the place". For them to go away leaving you with the feeling that you have wasted their time is unforgivable.

  2. You CAN have your husband forcibly removed from the home. It's an injunction. However, you will need to keep pushing the charges forward. With a child in the house as well - who was present during DV - a court would take the injunction seriously.

  3. I'm not saying this to have a go at you, but you need to realise that whilst your husband still has access to your home, you will probably find it difficult to use it as a base to child mind. It doesn't matter if he is always out the house. The fact is he could walk in whenever he wanted. And with assault to his name, people aren't going to allow their children to take that risk. However, if you get an injunction preventing him from entering the home, then you should be okay.

I would never leave my children in a home where DV had been committed, regardless of if the person responsible was at work all day. However, I would leave my children with someone who had experienced DV, providing the abuser didn't have access to the property.

One of my friends at school had a mother in a very, very abusive relationship. He didn't live there, but I did see him very occasionally. He was never stupid enough to hit her when we were there, but that didn't stop him from screaming in her face whilst she was sobbing into her hands. Over a pair of fucking tights. I was only 9 and it was terrifying. I would never, ever put my child into a situation like that (e.g. in a third parties house).

AnyFucker · 19/01/2015 10:39

any luck on the calls ?

Tinkerball · 19/01/2015 12:35

I had no intention of upsetting you by saying you had psychogical issues but this is what saying you deserve violence from your DH because you wound him up to me suggests, I have counselled people who have been subjected to dv and a this is a common belief, deserving it, which is often linked to low self-esteem.

rumbleinthrjungle · 19/01/2015 14:10

Bananas, reading this it seems like a) you need the house for childminding so it's your living and b) even stronger reason, ds needs to be in the house for his safety as he is disabled and his needs cannot be met anywhere else immediately, so these two together would seem to add up to a strong case legally for DH having to leave the house rather than you and the children if it comes to it. SS and Ofsted may be able to help more.

It may be worth posting in legal and see if anyone there can advise?

BradfordMum · 19/01/2015 16:33

This must be reported to Ofsted I'm afraid. Anything involving you and the Police is classed as a Significant incident.

SmillasSenseOfSnow · 19/01/2015 19:54

I'm confused, BradfordMum - would the OP have to tell Ofsted if she'd been the victim of another crime? Eg mugged in the street? It sounds an awful lot like a misinterpretation of the rules to me.

AnyFucker · 19/01/2015 20:07

you don't invite a mugger to come live in the house where parents are paying to have their children cared for in a safe environment though....

op hasn't been back then Sad

KirjavaTheCat · 19/01/2015 20:37

I do hope she comes back.

tinklykeys · 19/01/2015 20:43

The OP did already say she would call ofsted herself today. She seems very capable of sorting things out one step at a time. I hope she's ok...

greenbananas · 19/01/2015 20:54

I'm here, it's just been a busy and rather horrible day and I haven't had time to post.

I called Ofsted, they have suspended my registration with immediate effect, pending further investigation. They have to do this until they have spoken to the police and social services.

Yesterday, I called the police, to ask if any follow up could happen when my 6 year old was at school, rather than when he was in the house. Was told this would be okay, but at 7pm (when children were just finishing tea) two police officers came round.

Apparently, the officers who attended the incident wrote that I was "completely intoxicated", and have raised concerns about my ability to look after my own children. I am beyond gutted about this Sad and I also don't think it was true! (For example, I would have been able to recognise the signs of an allergic reaction and administer the epipen, no matter how squiffy I appeared.)

I called social services this afternoon, but they haven't heard anything from the police yet. They are getting back to me. I am utterly terrified about this - but also think it will probably blow over to some extent because there is no way I am incapable of looking after my children, adn they are bound to realise that. Social Services aren't stupid, and I just hope they come round quickly so that aspect of it gets cleared up at least.

The police who turned up at 7pm yesterday just went on and on about how the officers had found me intoxicated. To be honest, I felt really judged. They defended the original officers' judgement without listening to me at all, I thought.

They asked if DH was likely to hit the children and I said no. They asked did I want him to be arrested and charged, and I said not really, because it would be so dreadful for the children. So they advised me not to make a statement, and I signed a notebook entry to say I didn't want any further action. The thing is, I didn't feel in a strong position, certainly didn't feel I could count on their support, because they were so fixated on how drunk they thought I had been at the time.

I said I was going to call social services and Ofsted, because I thought I should. The police officer said "stop ringing people, you need to talk to your husband".

DH is out at a sports match tonight. He says he is going to talk to the police and give his side of the story. He says that I need to take a good look at myself and understand how I interact with other people, and the kind of provocation I continually put him under. Because Ofsted are investigating, he says he is going to grab a bag and sleep in the car (nowhere else to go, we can't afford a hotel) and I think that's silly, there is no immediate risk of harm tonight and he will make himself ill just to score points - which will help nobody.

The local domestic violence people are calling me tomorrow, and I hope that then I can start to get some perspective and make some sense of all this.

Sorry this is long and rambly. I won't be back for a while because I need to finish tucking the children in bed.

OP posts:
HootyMcTooty · 19/01/2015 21:00

Bloody hell, I'm stunned at how you've been treated by the Police. Actually, I'm disgusted.

Stay strong. I hope you're safe Flowers

YoullLikeItNotaLot · 19/01/2015 21:02

Jesus OP, hope the domestic violence (hate that phrase, it's violence pure and simple) can give you some decent advice.

Are the police basically saying a drunk person can't be a victim of crime? So a drunk man can't be robbed? A drunk man couldn't be mugged? Fucking hell!

As if you don't feel bad enough right now.

Flowers - woefully inadequate though that is.

TheyLearnedFromBrian · 19/01/2015 21:06
Shock

I would be looking into making a complaint about your treatment from the police.

Speak to Women's Aid and the domestic violence people about it.

  • sneering and dismissive of you, trying to focus on your being drunk as a means of downplaying the crime
  • sneering at your intention to follow correct procedure in informing Ofsted etc.
  • advising you to just talk to your H?!

So unsurprisingly Mr. Big Cock gets to talk alllll reasonable like to the police and it's victim blaming all the way. They've practically written him an abuser's charter!

Complain. And work from there on getting him out of the house permanently.

Ineedacleaningfairy · 19/01/2015 21:08

It's so stupid that they are making such a big deal about you being drunk, you were posting understandable posts, with sent aces and good spelling on mumsnet, you certainly were not ridiculously drunk.

Could your husband stay with his parents?

AnyFucker · 19/01/2015 21:09

Why aren't you pressing charges ? I think that will not reflect well on you, I am afraid.

SoMuchForSubtlety · 19/01/2015 21:15

Don't let him get away with behaving like this OP. I could provoke DH in any way I chose and he would never hit me. Nothing excuses assaulting someone, much less assaulting your life partner who is the mother of your children. Please press charges.

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