He's Stolen My Baby!

My controlling partner had already robbed me of so much.

- Bess Browning, Carly Read

Scrolling through Facebook, my heart sank.

Looks fun! I thought, clicking ‘like’ on silly selfies in nightclub loos, pics of pals in beer gardens.

I used to post things like that, too.

Before I met Paul, 27... It was May 2014 and I couldn’t believe how much had changed in the few months since me and Paul had got together.

To begin with, he’d been thoughtful and protective.

Even taken on my little boy, just 6 weeks old.

My mum had been worried.

‘He’s not right for you,’ she warned me.

Yes, Paul was a few years older, a bit rough and ready.

‘But he looks after me,’ I told Mum.

Now I realised she’d been right.

What I’d thought was kindness revealed itself to be something else. Control. Before I knew it, Paul had moved in with me and my baby son.

Everything had to be done the way he wanted, and his temper was terrible.

He wouldn’t ever let me go out alone.

Soon, my friends stopped inviting me and I could only watch their fun on Facebook.

‘What are you doing on your phone?’ Paul would bark, accusing me of messaging other blokes. I’d never cheat, but I couldn’t make him listen. I felt so trapped. Then, that May in 2014, I found out I was pregnant. When I told Paul, his face lit up.

‘That’s the best news!’ he said, instantly calling his parents.

Despite my doubts, I was buoyed up.

Maybe this baby will be a fresh start for us? I thought.

Only, when I was 18 weeks pregnant, I felt sharp pains in my belly, found blood in my knickers.

Paul and I rushed to Vale of Leven Hospital and I was seen by a doctor.

‘We’ll need to examine you,’ he said.

I saw Paul’s jaw twitch, hoped I’d imagined it.