“He preyed on my vulnerability”
“He preyed on my vulnerability”
Five years ago Stevie Morton met a man who she thought would love and cherish her, as any respectable partner should. Instead, he wore away every part of herself she recognised and reduced her to a terrified, anxious shell of her former self.
For the first few months things were great, but as her relationship with James Bilsborrow continued, his true colours began to show. Over the next four years Stevie suffered a catalogue of abuse at the hands of the man who was meant to love and protect her.
The mum-of-two had known of Bilsborrow for a while, but it was in 2020 that they started their relationship after he messaged her.
Stevie, 33, said: “He started being controlling. I couldn’t go for breakfast with my sister; I couldn’t go and see my dad. It would be World War Three if I tried to go and see anyone.
“He tried to seclude me from all of my family. I’d break up with him, but then he would start talking to me; he would turn up at my work, come to my house, and leave presents on my doorstep – flowers, chocolates, and drinks. He was unstoppable, so I’d end up getting back with him.
“He’d promise things would change, would be different; it would last one week and then go back to being the same.”
In 2022, Bilsborrow attacked his partner for the first time. Stevie said he had been on holiday and he ‘kicked off over the littlest thing’. Stevie broke up with him yet again, but he “relentlessly” wore her down and preyed on her vulnerability.
She said: “He would cause a scene in the house and hit me. I’d ask him to leave, and he wouldn’t go. Then he’d boot my door in, hit me, stalk me and harass me.
“I’d get 150 text messages in the space of two hours. He’d wait outside my work for me to finish. I tried to cut contact, but he would stand shouting outside my house. The more I wouldn’t give in to him, the more he worked to get me back.”
Stevie recalled how he’d hit her while she was driving her car, thrown things at her and been “disgusting on every level”. Last July, Stevie reached a turning point.
She said: “He strangled me; he threw me around the kitchen, hitting my head off cupboards. Then he grabbed a knife and said he was going to kill me. That was the worst; after that I knew I needed to get away.
“My kids don’t want a life like this. I was hiding it all from them, but my moods were showing. I’d never suffered with depression or anxiety before I met James, but it got to the point where I didn’t want to get up in the morning; I genuinely felt suicidal.”
James Bilsborrow, 38, from Fazakerley, was jailed for 27 months and made subject to a seven‑year restraining order at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, January 26.
In a statement Stevie told the court how she is “far from the girl” she was five years ago. Her statement read: “My relationship with James has been the hardest journey in my life; I have changed so much I barely recognise myself. I no longer feel like myself; I don’t know who I am; I feel lost. I have felt extremely vulnerable from August to now. My life has not been private.
“I feel embarrassed, humiliated, overwhelmed, anxious, stressed, regretful, guilty, fearful, nauseous, exhausted, extremely depressed, very tearful, suicidal. I want to run away. I want to hide in my bed under my covers, not get out of bed, and not come out of my room. I’ve closed the blinds and curtains and left them shut for days or weeks at a time.
“I’ve had days I’ve been unable to do basic tasks such as clean the house, not been shopping, not been washed, dressed, or changed my clothes, or washed or even brushed my hair. I have skipped meals, I have lost weight, I have not turned in to work, I have not wanted to go to work, I have walked out of work, and I have not wanted to drive because of the lack of concentration. I feel these emotions every single day.
“I want to make it clear I don’t feel this way because my relationship is over, and I don’t miss James in any way – I feel this way because of the way he tore me down bit by bit, and I became so used to living with violence and threats that feeling frightened and on edge was my normal. I wish I had never met him. I’m far from the girl I was five years ago.
“What I really hope comes from this whole situation is closure, a promise of being left alone, like our paths never crossed. I want to feel safe now and in the future; I want peace and security to move on from this and act like it never happened. I want to find (myself) again, or a better version of her.
“I didn’t want to provide a statement like this at the beginning because I didn’t want James to feel satisfaction knowing he had such an impact on my life – but now that I’ve had a few months without him and I have already seen how much better my life is without him, I understand how important it is that my story is told. No matter how difficult this has been, I hope I can stop James from doing this to any other woman in the future.”
After the sentencing, Stevie said: “I feel so overwhelmed. The past five years have been awful; I have been a bundle of anxiety. I just don’t want him to do this to another woman.”
Merseyside Police continue to encourage anyone experiencing domestic abuse or harassment to come forward. Support is available, and reports will be taken seriously. Find out more: www.merseysidepolice.uk/VAWG
