April 11, 2019
Caroline’s Ruby story
Caroline – a 37 year old woman, was admitted to A&E with injuries to her face. She had previously been admitted two weeks before with bruising to her body and seemed very frightened; although she said that she had been attacked by a stranger.
The hospital staff asked Caroline questions and suspected domestic abuse. They referred her to our Ruby service. Kate from our team contacted Caroline and arranged to meet her in a safe place. At first she continued to insist that she had been attacked by a stranger, but eventually began to open up. She told the Ruby worker that she was frightened of her partner who was very controlling. She also told us that her children had been taken into care as a result of domestic violence in the home and her own drug-use, which she turned to as a means of coping.
Caroline and her partner were also on bail for offences which she stated she committed out of fear. Ruby staff immediately arranged a meeting with children’s services to arrange contact with her children, followed up with her barrister on information about her court date and stated that if a suspended sentence was given that attendance at the Women’s Turnaround service run by PSS would be a positive specified activity requirement that would help her to get the support she needed. A ‘treat as urgent’ marker was put on her property in case of further violence. Positively Caroline was given a suspended sentence and was required to attend the Turnaround project. However her partner accosted her at the court and threatened her, and was immediately arrested and was subsequently held on remand for intimidation and harassment.
Caroline was supported to give a statement to the police for the first time regarding his behaviour. Following the intervention, Caroline now sees her children three times a week, attends the Freedom programme at Turnaround and is working on recognising the patterns of domestic abuse and identifying her own cycle of abuse to ensure she doesn’t repeat this. She has also been working with ADDACTION and has produced her first drug test as negative for any illicit drugs.
*All names have been changed here to respect privacy