WORDS:
BESS
BROWNING,
MARCELLO
MEGA.
PHOTOS:
MARCELLO
MEGA,
ALAMY
Heseemed
togeta real
kickoutof
inflicting
pain
TASTE FOR VIOLENCE
Scott:hehadthe
looksandthe
charm– atfirst...Hefacedcharges
atLivingston
HighCourt6
Beneath his good looks, evil lurks.
Believe me, I found out the hard way
Katie MacKinnon, 34, PerthA
s I gulped a glass of
wine, I sobbed on my
neighbour’s shoulder.
‘I just can’t face
Christmas alone,’
I wept to her.
It was December 2010 and
I’d just broken up with my
partner of 12 years.
Depressed,
heartbroken,
I was lower than
I’d ever been.
I felt alone
and miserable.
Just then,
a good-looking
young man
walked through
the front door.
It was my
neighbour’s son.
‘Hi, I’m Stefan,’ he smiled.
‘Don’t mind me,’ I said,
drying my eyes. ‘I’m being daft.’
Grabbing a glass himself,
Stefan joined me and his mum
for a drink.
Soon, my heartbreak was
long forgotten.
Stefan was so charming,
it didn’t matter that he was
17 and I was 25.
He was gorgeous, and
I couldn’t help but get lost
in his bright-blue eyes.
Alone, later – and after a few
more drinks – we fell into each
other’s arms.
And one thing simply led
to another...
But I assumed our night
of passion was a one-off.
Stefan was so young.
Why would he be interestedin me? I thought to myself.
But he kept popping round,
sending flirty texts.
My break-up had left my
self-esteem at rock bottom.
And now Stefan was
changing all of that with his
compliments and kisses.
Hours spent
together turned
to days...and,
within weeks,
he’d moved in.
Things between
us quickly
became intense.
Especially
in the bedroom.
At first, our
sex life was really
fun, exciting even.
However, Stefan liked it
rough – and he seemed to get
a real kick out of inflicting pain
on me.
‘Can we be a bit more lovingthis time?’ I once
asked him.
‘Boring!’ he
sniffed, shutting
me down.
And it wasn’t as
if I could claim to
have a headache.
When it came to
sex, he’d never take no for
an answer, and quickly
became violent.
Yet I was drinking a lot, and
it was making me blind to
Stefan’s behaviour.
Controlling and possessive,
I caught him cutting my ex out
all my family photos.
Then, in February 2011,
I started hearing some
rumours about Stefan.
He didn’t have a good track
record when it came to the
opposite sex.
‘You need to stay away from
him,’ I was warned.
Repulsed at some of thethings I was hearing, I told
him to leave.
But Stefan just refused.
Feeling trapped, I started
drinking more than ever.
I fell deeper into depression,
as Stefan became more and
more aggressive.
He’d yell at me, make me
feel as if I was nothing.
Then, one evening in April
2011, as we had sex, he snaked
his hands around my neck.
And squeezed.
Panicking and unable to
breathe, I tried to scream out
for him to stop.
But he kept choking me until
I blacked out.
I was terrified, powerless.
After that, it seemed
I became his plaything.
One night, he grabbed me
by the hair, and smashed my
head against a door.
He wouldn’t even let me
have a bath alone.
As I sat in the water, he
grabbed my hair and shoved
my head under the water.
Then he dragged me to the
bedroom and raped me.
‘Stop!’ I begged.
But when I cried out in
agony, it just seemed to spur
Stefan on even more.
‘Wasn’t that great?’ he