Originally published 05 Mar 2013
Nicole Coyle was a carefree student when her boyfriend Kieran McLuckie began hitting her.
After each attack, he’d beg her to forgive him, and the 17 year old did, believing McLuckie, also 17, would change.
She eventually found the courage to walk away last year, but possessive amateur boxer McLuckie was so furious, he punched her repeatedly in the face and left her for dead.
“I was a normal happy teenager until I met Kieran"
Horrifyingly, Nicole needed six hours of surgery as almost every bone in her face was broken – and doctors said two more punches would’ve killed her.
Last month, McLuckie pleaded guilty to endangering her life and assault. He is now serving a three-year jail sentence.
Speaking as the Government introduces an amendment to the definition of domestic violence, to recognise 16 and 17 year olds as victims for the first time, Nicole says: “I was a normal happy teenager until I met Kieran.
“When he first hit me, I blamed myself as he’d been lovely before that. He said sorry and I forgave him – but the violence became regular. At 17, you don’t think you could be a victim of domestic abuse – but now I know it can happen to anyone.”
Nicole, now 19, started dating McLuckie in March 2011, after meeting him through friends. She says: “Kieran was charming – he bought me gifts– and my friends and family liked him. We soon fell in love.”
But a few months later, Nicole saw another side of him. She says: “A girl I knew told me he’d cheated with her. As it was early in our relationship, I forgave him, but he was convinced I’d do the same and said I couldn’t chat to other boys. I thought he was overreacting, but assumed all boys were possessive.”
Six months into the relationship, McLuckie was violent for the first time.
“We were at a friend’s house and we’d been drinking,” recalls Nicole. “I was having a go at him for cheating when he grabbed my hair and slammed my head against a wardrobe. I begged him to let go, but he spat in my face. My friends tried to pull him away, but he kicked me in the stomach and I fell down the stairs. I was shocked and vowed to end it.”
"I hid the bruises with make-up"
Nicole, from Glasgow, stayed with a friend to hide her injuries from her parents. “Dad was fighting pancreatic cancer – I didn’t want to cause more stress,” says Nicole, who’d been left with a black eye and a bruised thigh. “I hid the bruises with make-up.”
Naively, Nicole decided to forgive McLuckie. She says: “He sent me texts saying he was sorry and that it’d never happen again.”
But McLuckie turned on Nicole again two months later. She recalls: “We were arguing in his flat and, as I went to leave, he slapped me and threw me against the door. I ran home and went to my room to hide my bruises.”
McLuckie persuaded Nicole to give him yet another chance, by saying he’d seek counselling.
“He seemed genuinely sorry,” she says. “And, most of the time, he was really caring.”
Sadly, Nicole’s dad lost his battle with cancer in December 2011. She says: “I was devastated. I clung to Kieran to help me through my grief.”
But instead of comforting Nicole, McLuckie started lashing out more. Nicole says: “I became withdrawn and felt worthless. I know it sounds stupid, but I didn’t think I was a victim of domestic violence – I thought it’d stop.”
But last June, after another row, Nicole told him it was over.
She says: “We were arguing and I knew he was about to hit me. I felt like Dad was looking down and I knew he’d be heartbroken, so I told Kieran it was over. He punched me in the face, then I managed to get out and run to my cousin’s house. Mum was there too, and I cried and told her what had happened. She was furious and wanted to ring the police, but I just wanted to forget about it. I didn’t tell her about the other attacks as she’d only just lost Dad.”
McLuckie sent Nicole a string of texts begging for forgiveness, but she ignored him. However, four months later, she bumped into him at a party, where he apologised and asked if they could remain friends. She says: “I thought it’d be easier to be on good terms because we had mutual friends.”
"I was told i was two punches away from death"
So, a week later, when she bumped into him at another party, she agreed to go outside with him. She says: “I wasn’t worried – I thought he was over me. But as we got to a quiet road, he said he wanted me back. I said no and he started punching me in the face. I cowered on the floor, begging him to stop, but he carried on and I lost consciousness.”
Shockingly, McLuckie left Nicole bleeding on the roadside. CCTV showed she came round 40 minutes later and crawled to a main road, where a passerby called an ambulance. Nicole says: “My eyes were so swollen, I couldn’t see and I felt numb. I was drifting in and out of consciousness and I had a panic attack because I was so scared.”
Horrifically, almost all the bones in Nicole’s face were either fractured or broken.
“I couldn’t speak and could hardly see. I was told I’d been two punches away from death,” she recalls. “I was grateful to be alive, but I didn’t want to see my face. Two days later I saw my reflection in a window and my face was bloated and bruised. I burst into tears. I was disgusted by my face and what he’d done. I felt pure hatred towards him.”
Two days after the attack, Nicole gave a statement to police while still in hospital and McLuckie was charged with assault and remanded in custody.
Five days later, specialists spent six hours rebuilding her face, inserting pins and five metal plates to hold her eye sockets, cheekbones and jaw together.
In February, McLuckie pleaded guilty to assaulting Nicole twice in March 2012 and to assaulting her and endangering her life in October 2012. Recalling the day she faced him in court, she says: “I was shaking and felt sick. He kept his head down and didn’t seem remorseful at all.”
McLuckie was given a three-year sentence and a five-year harassment order banning him from contacting Nicole, but Nicole, who still has nightmares and had to give up college due to stress, says: “The punishment is too lenient – he’ll serve half that.”