Brave rape victim Jill Harrison has told how she tried to kill herself after her brutal ordeal at the hands of her former partner.
But the 54-year-old said she is a “survivor” who now wants to turn her life around.
Anthony Graham, stalked, bound and raped Ms Harrison in a house in Laburnum Road, Redcar, and threatened to kill her and her friend Thomas Elton.
During the vicious attack Graham, 47, told a terrified Ms Harrison that he had paid £2,500 for two men to kill her and Mr Elton, pick them up in a black car and bury them on the Moors.
Two days after the rape, Graham savagely attacked Mr Elton, 66, with a hammer while he was out walking his dog in Redcar.
He was left brain damaged, confined to a wheelchair and suffers from epilepsy.
Ms Harrison, from Redcar, has bravely waived her right to anonymity to speak out about her ordeal and is urging other women who are victims but haven’t told police, to come forward.
'I want to put it behind me now'
She said: “It destroyed me and I will never be able to rid myself of the images, memories and pain but I am still here and I want to put it behind me now.
"I want to rebuild my life. When you reach rock bottom, there is only one way and that is up.
"I am planning to open my own business in Redcar and more importantly I want to care for and support Tom as much as I can and am allowed to.”
She said Mr Elton, a former mechanic, is her “motivation and priority”.
“It is for him who I want to turn things around for," Ms Harrison added.
"I am still able to walk and talk but he can’t. I hate thinking of what that man did to him.
“But Tom is a strong, brave and intelligent person. He took a turn for the better recently and I know he will keep getting better.”
Victim tried to kill herself
Ms Harrison said that after the attacks, she became homeless, tried to kill herself and admitted herself to Roseberry Park Hospital in Middlesbrough.
"I had a nervous breakdown and I started having suicidal thoughts. I tried to take my life and was told I was very lucky to still be alive," she added.
“I panicked a lot and I didn’t like going out by myself.
“I felt like I had let my family down. My dad died eight months before the attack.
"My family was grieving and then this happened. It was hard for them too and I didn’t realise that at the time.”
Graham pleaded guilty to a count of rape and one of grievous bodily harm and in October last year he was jailed for life with a minimum of nine years.
What the investigating detectives said
Detectives who investigated the two vicious attacks praised Ms Harrison and Mr Harrison for their “tremendous strength”.
Detective Chief Inspector Anne-Marie Salwey said: “The sentence given to Graham reflects the seriousness of his crimes.
"His victims will be affected for the rest of their lives, so it’s only right that he spends a long time behind bars.
“The victims and their families were forced to relive everything as Graham put them through the distress of preparing for a trial, they have shown tremendous strength and bravery throughout the investigation and I hope today’s result helps them in some way to begin to rebuild their lives.”
Praise for police officers
Ms Harrison has praised police for the support and help they gave her when she came forward following the attack.
“I was very hesitant about talking to police," she said.
"It was a scary thought but from start to finish they were absolutely brilliant.
"They looked after me and made the process a lot easier. I can’t thank them enough.
"Detective Constable Tony Ward and Detective Constable Kat Mansell were great and I want to thank them for what they have done.
“If you are a victim and you haven’t come forward, I know what it is like and I know it is hard but all the help and support is there.
"These people need locking and away and punishing.”
Detective Chief Inspector Anne-Marie Salwey, from the Protecting Vulnerable People Unit, said: “We would always encourage victims of sexual assault or rape to report it to police, whether a lengthy period of time has passed since the incident or not.
“Victims can be assured that we will always investigate every rape or sexual assault that is reported to us.
"There is a huge amount of help and support out there for victims, from our own specially trained officers and also from partner agencies such as the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), ARCH North East or Eva Women’s Aid who will provide a sensitive and dedicated service that meets their needs.”
Read Jill Harrison's story in full HERE
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