Quote:
Originally Posted by icecakes
PERHAPS YOU SHOULD READ THIS AND HAVE A BIT OF COMPASSION FOR THE BOY I think he's wonderful
Douglas and his brothers and sisters endured years of living in fear until things escalated dramatically when his mother, Mandy Wood, got a job at a local post office.
"I got a job and he said I'd never get one," she said. "That's what pushed him over the edge."
Wood explained that her partner flew into a jealous rage, imprisoned her in their bedroom for three days and tortured her.
"It was one of the worst nights ever," admitted Douglas. "I woke up thinking, 'Is she still alive?' He used a blowtorch to brand her, used knives on her, dragged her through the hallway naked by her hair. He threatened to kill all of us in front of her.
"When the police came I couldn't even recognise her face. I was used to seeing her being beaten and having bruises but this time she had hair missing, burn marks and her eyes were all puffed out, black and glazed over.
"I just hugged her. I couldn't say anything. I never did say anything in the house.
"The thing that stays with you is hearing your mother scream and not being able to do anything."
Their father was taken away and was eventually imprisoned for nine years for the attack on Wood, with another six-year term to serve concurrently for rape.
Before his sentencing, the family were terrified he would track them down and stayed in refuges, constantly adopting different pseudonyms.
"Once, the authorities even suggested we move to Australia but we didn't want him to have that much control," said Douglas.
Douglas's father sent threatening letters to the family throughout his incarceration and was later released after serving just five years of his sentence. Shortly afterwards, Jahmene's brother Daniel was found dead having committed suicide.
"I thought, 'What else can you throw at me?'" said Douglas. "Daniel had said it was like living in a box and we couldn't get out. His death switched me off.
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Who are you to tell me that I don't have compassion? I do however think it's distasteful of Jahmene to think that he can use this sob story just to get through a week of The X Factor.