Young Mum Narrates Her Ordeal In The Hands Of An Abusive Boyfriend

A young mother has bravely spoken out about the “two years of hell” she endured with an abusive boyfriend who controlled and insulted her and even threatened her at knife point. Lindsey Bidgway who last month, saw her ex, Nikki Edmunds, jailed for his thuggery - has urged other women to leave their violent partners, warning: “they’ll never change.” Edmunds was jailed for 17 months at Cardiff Crown Court last month after pleading guilty to one count of common assault and one of affray against Lindsay. A restraining order was also made against him.

Lindsey, who says she has been left unable to trust men, went to the police after Edmunds returned home from a three day booze bender wanting sex. She said: “I said no, and suddenly he picked up a bread knife and yelled: ‘I will stick this knife in your f***ing neck you rat bag’. I was terrified. “I was petrified that my daughter was going to find her mummy dead. “Seizing an opportunity, I ran out of the house and, finally, rang the police. By the time they arrived, Nikki had fled, but he handed himself in a few days later.” 

The 26-year-old, from Blackwood, South Wales, met Edmunds through mutual friends in April 2012. At first, she was smitten. Lindsey remembered: “We started dating quite quickly, and at first he was so kind and generous. He could charm the birds out of the trees. “He’d take me out for dinner, shower me with compliments. But then, just a few months into our relationship, he was jailed for an incident involving a baseball bat. “Alarm bells should have been ringing, but I was in love and stuck by him. The violent offence happened before we’d met, but I should have seen him then for what he was. “Yet when he got out three months later I was by his side, and then I fell pregnant.”

After a traumatic pregnancy, which saw Lindsey tragically lose one of her twins, baby Peyton was born two months early in September 2013. Following the birth, she noticed that Edmunds was becoming increasingly possessive and verbally abusive. “I had to practically beg him to come to the birth. And once we’d moved in together he was always out partying. He showed no interest in his daughter, and was always belittling me,” she said. “When I asked him to stay at home he started to become aggressive. He’d tell me that I was fat – even though I was a size six. “Then he’d say I was a rat and that no man would ever want me now I’d had a baby. Instead of leaving him, it made me rely on him more. I thought without him I’d be lost and alone.” 

Lindsay, who returned to work when her baby, Peyton was 14-months-old, even had to quit her job after Edmunds grew suspicious of her male colleagues. “He was allowed to go out clubbing with girls till the early hours while I stayed home looking after our baby, but I wasn’t even allowed to work in an environment with men,” she said. “It was then we started splitting up, and getting back together. He’d leave or I’d leave, but we’d always end up in the same place. I was under his spell. “There were times when I was so scared of him, but I didn’t want to go to the police in case social services became involved.”

In May 2015, the toxic relationship came to a head when Edmunds choked Lindsay in a parked car. Recalling the terrifying event, she said: “We were arguing about something small and suddenly he turned at me with a cold look in his eye. “Then he launched himself on me, throttling me. Struggling to breathe, I thought I was going to die. “Somehow I managed to kick the car horn which distracted him. Then I ran to a nearby care home. “Even then I didn’t call the police. Like a fool, I went back to him when he apologised.” 

Just three days later, Edmunds attacked Lindsay again - this time in the home they shared with their daughter. “After he throttled me he went on a three-day bender. When he came home he was drunk, and wanted sex,” she said. It was then that he threatened to stab her, letting out a tirade of abuse while her daughter played in the next room.

Jailing Edmunds at Cardiff Crown Court on 21 August 2015, Recorder Mark Powell QC said: “Domestic violence victims don’t always act in the way they should. She should have gone to the police, she should have stayed away.”

Lindsay said: “I wish I’d got out sooner, but I won’t let that monster win. Now I’m planning on working with a charity to raise awareness about domestic violence. I’m also going to go back to work and provide for my daughter. “I’m telling my story as I want other victims to know there is a way out. For most of our relationship, I was scared or walking on eggshells, but I couldn’t imagine life without Nikki. “If you’re going through something similar, please seek help.”