Tina Nash: Mother who had eyes gouged out by brutal boyfriend has been inspired by attack

Tina Nash: Mother who had eyes gouged out by brutal boyfriend has been inspired by attack

• Tina Nash was subjected to 'sickening' 12-hour ordeal at her home
  
• She was also left with a broken nose and jaw in an assault described as 'the most harrowing' police had seen
• The 32-year-old said the worst thing was not being able to see her children
• Abusive Shane Jenkin jailed indefinitely for GBH today
• He will be detained at a secure psychiatric hospital
  
• Mother of two said she is stronger than ever and ready to move on with life
• She had helped her violent partner get out of jail on several occasions
• He attacked her nine times in the year leading up to him blinding her
  

By Emma Reynolds

PUBLISHED: 04:19 EST, 11 May 2012 | UPDATED: 09:27 EST, 11 May 2012

A mother whose boyfriend viciously gouged out her eyes has revealed that she is moving forward as her ex was jailed today.

Tina Nash's tearful account last month of her 12-hour ordeal at her home in Cornwall was harrowing viewing, but the 32-year-old says she has now escaped that 'dark place' and is feeling stronger.

Shortly before her 33-year-old attacker Shane Jenkin was sentenced, Miss Nash spoke candidly about how she turned her life around following the devastating experience.

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Moving forward: Tina Nash arrives at Truro Crown Court in Cornwall today, where her former partner Shane Jenkin was jailed indefinitely for GBH

'I now feel like I'm coming to terms with it,' she told the BBC. 'I was in a dark place back then - I don't feel as low as I did.

'When I heard my first interview it shocked me - I was crying for someone else because that didn't feel like me.'

The mother-of-two was brutally beaten by Jenkin in the assault at her home last year. He broke her nose and jaw, throttled her until she was unconscious, and then gouged out her eyes.

Miss Nash, who has sons aged four and 14, spoke last month of her suffering at the thought of never seeing her children again.

She said then that her children were the only thing that had stopped her from committing suicide and admitted that the experience had left her feeling 'buried alive.'

Thug: Jenkin strangled and blinded his then-girlfriend in a sickening 12-hour attack

But today, before Jenkin received his indefinite sentence, Miss Nash said this was her chance for a fresh start, and she is finally ready to move on with her life.

Her shock at listening back to her television interview last month prompted the change, she explained.

'I thought, "I can't do this any more, I've got to get on with my life,"' she said.

'The next day I just got up and started hanging up my clothes in my wardrobe and I just thought, I've got to move on.'

Miss Nash needed several weeks of treatment after the attack last April, but surgeons were unable to save her sight.

Her thuggish boyfriend had attacked her in the past, and she admitted in last month's interview that she had wrongly thought she could change his violent behaviour.

Miss Nash, described by a relative as ‘friendly, bubbly and outgoing’, had helped win Jenkin’s release from jail for previous offences.

After the loss of her sight, she warned other victims of domestic violence to get out ‘before it is too late’, and vowed to move forward for the sake of her children.

Today, as Jenkin was jailed for a minimum of six years after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent at Truro Crown Court, she said she was on her way to that point.

'I've had to do a lot of internalising, and a lot of sleeping to come to terms with it in my own head.

'And that's what I did for about nine months - sleeping and thinking.

'I had to do it myself and build myself back up. I feel stronger, a lot stronger. I've got a way to go yet but I'm on the right track.'

She dismissed any suggestion she should be proud of pulling herself back from the brink, however.

'I'm doing it for my kids - I just want them to be proud of me,' she said. 'They don't treat me any different, which is what I want.

'I'm the same me as I was before - I'm not going to change - no way.'

The two boys were asleep in the house at the time of the assault. Jenkin, of Hayle, was originally charged with attempted murder, after police described the incident as one of the most shocking they had dealt with.

Judge Christopher Harvey Clark QC handed him an indeterminate sentence for public protection and made a 'hybrid order' that Jenkin should be detained at a secure psychiatric hospital.

Miss Nash sat in the public gallery wearing a bright blue top and sunglasses, while Jenkin refused to attend court.

Devastated: Tina Nash, pictured left speaking last month, and right before the assault, said she missed 'the things people take for granted' like seeing the sea and sky

After hearing the verdict, Miss Nash said in a statement through Devon and Cornwall police that Jenkin had been sober and had deliberately tried to kill her.

But she said he will have to live with what he did for the rest of his life - as she starts to rebuild hers.

'I have waited a year and three weeks for this day,' she said. 'It was a week short of a year before Shane decided to plead guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent, although he and I know that he tried to kill me that night.

'This delay I believe to be deliberate as Shane hoped I would give in and back out as I had done previously and he was happy in the knowledge that he was still controlling my life by doing so.

'During this year my life has been in limbo as I have not been able to have the treatment and counselling I so desperately needed whilst Shane has had a team of experts, professionals and psychiatrists assessing and ensuring his wellbeing and that he received his treatment that he required.

'Shane was not mentally ill when he attacked me, he was not drunk or under the influence of drugs. It was a silent prolonged attack. Shane knows what he did to me that night and he has to live with that for the rest of his life.

Freedom: Tina Nash (centre) leaves Truro Crown Court with two police officers following Jenkin's sentencing

'My life has changed forever that night and will never be the same but I am now able to move on, start my treatment and rebuild my life. I have a future and want to provide a future for my kids and be a good mum.

'I have been overwhelmed and moved by all the kind messages, offers of help and generous gifts I have received and would like to say thank you to everyone.

'I urge anyone out there suffering domestic abuse to contact the police before it is too late. Don't be frightened or embarrassed, there are specially trained officers who can and will help you.

'If you really feel unable to contact the police there are charities and support groups such as West Cornwall Women's Aid who will help, advise and support you in doing so.'

Prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane told the court that in the 12 months before the attack in which Miss Nash was blinded there were nine reports of Jenkin attacking her.

The court heard that on one occ asion the 17-and-a-half stone, 6ft 4in Jenkin punched her in the face three times while she slept before pushing his fingers into her eyes and then throwing her down the stairs.

In another terrifying incident, burly Jenkin put his arms around her neck so tightly that she passed out and he performed mouth to mouth resuscitation on her.

No more tears: Miss Nash listens as a police officer reads a statement on her behalf outside the court

Mr Macfarlane said Jenkin was prosecuted but after he threatened to burn down her home and promised he would change, Miss Nash refused to give evidence against him and the charges were dropped.

The prosecutor said Miss Nash's life changed forever on the night on April 21 last year.

'The night before, Tina recalls that, at the defendant's suggestion they had watched a gory DVD which ended with a Chinese girl having her eyes hanging out of her head,' he said.

'She was later to realise the significance of that.'

On the night of the attack, Miss Nash had gone to bed and awoke to find Jenkin on top of her, strangling her.

'The next thing she can recall is the defendant pulling the duvet away and saying "Oh my God, your eye is hanging out of your head",' said Mr Macfarlane.

'The defendant's reaction was to say "Oh my God, look at your face. You're blind".

'He went on to say, "It's all your fault. I'm going to get 20 years for this. You're blind and your kids grow up. It's all your fault."'

Mr Macfarlane said Ms Nash did not scream or cry for help because she had learned from previous experience that if she did, he would become more violent.

'She also knew she had to stay calm because the children were in the house,' Mr Macfarlane said.

'She also knew that there was no point in trying to leave the house, as on previous occasions after attacking her the defendant had locked her in.'

The court heard that for 12 hours Miss Nash remained in the house with Jenkin, pleading with him to get her an ambulance.

Eventually Jenkin allowed her son to ring his father and when he arrived at her home he found Miss Nash lying semi-naked on a bed and immediately rang for an ambulance.

Mr Macfarlane said Jenkin had threatened to kill Ms Nash several times and said he had no intention of doing a 'Raoul Moat' - i.e. killi ng himself.

'When Tina was interviewed about the offence she recalled him saying frequently "I'll kill you. I'll murder you",' the prosecutor said.

Suffering: Ms Nash is led into Truro Crown Court by a police officer last year, her damaged eyes covered by sunglasses

'He was also prone to saying "If I'm going down, I'm going down to do something worthwhile. I don't want to do a Raoul Moat".

'Tina recalled the defendant had a book on Raoul Moat at her home.'

Mr Macfarlane added: 'At this point during the video interview the officers perceived that Tina was becoming more upset and offered her a paper tissue.

'Tina replied poignantly, "I haven't got any tears anyway".'

Passing sentence, the judge said the defendant had committed a 'barbaric attack involving extreme violence' upon his defenceless partner.

'The defendant, Shane Jenkin, has pleaded guilty to a truly terrible crime,' he said. 'It is a crime which has shocked the people of Cornwall and indeed people living further afield who have read or heard about it.

'It is a crime involving extreme violence perpetrated by a man upon a woman.

'That violence has left Tina Nash permanently disabled. She has lost the precious gift of sight.

'She will never again be able to see her family, her friends or the beautiful coast and countryside o f this county.

Beaten: Miss Nash before the horrific attack, in which her nose and jaw was broken and her sight destroyed

'For people that can see the world around them it is almost impossible to imagine having one's sight removed by the brutal act of another human being.

'And it is almost impossible to imagine the despair and distress Ms Nash must feel at never being able to watch her two sons growing up.'

The judge said Jenkin posed a serious risk to the public and only a life sentence was appropriate.
'It was an unprovoked, vicious and sustained attack,' the judge said.

'The defendant repeatedly held her tightly around the neck and, as he contin ued to strangle her, she lost consciousness and from time to time she hallucinated.

'At some point during this attack when she was unconscious, the defendant gouged out her eyes with his fingers or thumbs.

'That amounted to a barbaric attack involving extreme violence.'

The judge said Jenkin 'callously and with great cruelty' refused Miss Nash's pleas for medical treatment.

'When arrested and interviewed he lied about what happened. He tried to cover up the true circumstances,' he said.

'In my judgment, whatever his mental state may be, he must bear significant responsibility for what happened.'

The judge passed a life sentence and said Jenkin would serve a minimum term of six years, minus the time he has already spent in custody.

'In view of all the circumstances in this case, it may well be many, many years before the parole board consider the defendant safe to be allowed out in the community,' h e said.

'In my judgment, he is a very dangerous man from which the public needs to be kept safe.'

Abusive relationship: Jenkin, left, had attacked his girlfriend, right, on numerous occasions - but she had always believed he would change and even helped him to get out of jail

Miss Nash said last month that she missed 'the things which people take for granted the most, such as seeing the sky and the sea.'

She said she was left feeling 'buried alive, claustrophobic and not in control of my life' by the assault.

'I actually look forward to going to sleep because in my dreams I have sight. It's when I wake up that the truth hits home,' she said.

'Some days I just don't want to get up but I'm determined to provide a future for my children and this is my motivation.'

But young mother claims she no longer feels any anger towards Jenkin, and she hopes to find a positive in what happened to her by helping other victims of domestic violence.

'To be honest I don't feel nothing towards him - nothing. Because that's a feeling and I don't want to have any feelings towards him. So no I'm not going to waste my time. He never existed.'

She said that people who had heard about her experience had been tremendously supportive, and her sisters often read out the missives to her.

Passers-by now regularly ask after her in the street. 'They ask how I'm doing and say, "oh you're so brave", but I don't think I'm brave.

'I don't think I'm brave at all. I'm surviving. You only get one life - so, you know, I'm not going to let him ruin it.'

JENKIN 'FLICKED LIKE A SWITCH' AND WAS ON A PUB BAN FOR VIOLENCE

Vile: Shane Jenkin, 33, assaulted his girlfriend in a 'premeditated and vicious attack'

Callous Shane Jenkin could turn like 'flicking a switch' and was on a five-year pub ban for violence.

The 6ft 4in thug was banned from pubs several times but excluded again in 2010 after punching a policeman, a pubwatch chairman said.

Jenkin, who was jailed today for blinding his then-girlfriend Tina Nash, struck fear into fellow drinkers who knew his volatile temper could erupt with little warning.

One Penzance barman said Jenkin had previously tried to gouge out a man's eyes during a brawl.

'I and several others have had run-ins with him and would say he is generally a nasty piece of work,' said the barman, who asked not to be named.

'What he did to Tina he tried to do to other people - I know someone else he had a fight with and tried to do that to him but he was 6ft 4in and could defend himself.

'He could just turn and go from being nice and polite and jovial then bang, it was like flicking a switch. I saw it on several occasions.'

'I have seen him talking to people, having a laugh to stamping on them on the floor.

'There have been various violent crimes and he has been to jail but he always pulled the mental health card - he says he isn't responsible for his actions and has mental health issues.

'He once dragged someone outside, up the road, put a bench on his head and started jumping on it.

'He ended up with a fractured skull and brain damage and I think he did some prison time for that but played the diminished responsibility card and was out in about 10 months. This was several years ago in his mid-twenties.'

Devon and Cornwall Police would not confirm details of their previous dealings with Jenkin - who has the word 'Outlaw' tattooed on his forearm and a scorpion on his chest.

Helen Cadman, Penzance pubwatch chairman and owner of the Sportsmans Arms in Heamoor, Penzance, said: 'He was put on the pubwatch scheme several times before but was put on it again in March 2010 for assaulting, punching a policeman outside a nightclub out of hours.

'He was on it previously for more minor offences.'

One landlord, who did not want to be named, said Jenkin was a well-known troublemaker.

'I have certainly thrown him out of a few pubs over the last decade,' he said.

'He was on the pubwatch scheme for violence and general drunken behaviour, just generally obnoxious.

Ms Cadman said she noticed he was 'quite aggressive' and that smaller members of staff became intimated by him and that he 'wasn't the full ticket.'

'He was on the pubwatch scheme serving a ban until 2015, a five-year ban. He was a general trouble maker, he'd start fights and get drunk,' she added.

Three months before the 33-y ear-old gouged out his girlfriend's eyes he was charged with breaching bail conditions by failing to observe a curfew, it was reported.

At the time he was allegedly on bail for an alleged domestic assault causing actual bodily harm.

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