WHEN Sophie-Beth Bradley discovered she was pregnant with her first child it felt like a new beginning.
She hoped it would be the happy news which would finally put a stop to her boyfriend Scott Kinsey’s campaign of control and violence against her.
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And whilst the news was settling in that he was to become a dad, Kinsey’s erratic moods were replaced with excitement – only it wasn’t to last.
It was December 2020 and just days later, his abusive behaviour returned and Sophie-Beth, now 23, fled to her mum’s for Christmas.
Only, when she arrived home in the January once Christmas was over, Kinsey, now 29, launched a brutal assault which saw him repeatedly kick helpless Sophie-Beth in her stomach and back.
Despite her desperate pleas for him to stop, it wasn’t until she started bleeding heavily and the baby was at risk that Kinsey stopped his attack and reluctantly called an ambulance.
Tragically, Sophie-Beth, from Newcastle upon Tyne, was a few weeks away from her 12-week scan when she miscarried her baby days later.
In July last year, Thug, Kinsey, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, was sentenced to 44 months in prison at Newcastle Crown Court and Sophie-Beth is appalled at the jail term.
She says: “No sentence will ever make up for the pain Scott caused.
“Losing my precious baby is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through.
“But I’m a fighter and I will never give up.”
Feeling trapped in his web of abuse, it wasn’t until March 2022, following the miscarriage and another horrific assault, that Sophie-Beth finally found the courage to report the monster to the police.
She first met Kinsey on Tinder in September 2019 and they moved in together almost immediately.
She says: “He was so sweet, constantly showering me with compliments and telling me he never wanted us to be apart.”
But just three months on, Kinsey’s behaviour completely changed.
In December 2019, the couple went to Edinburgh for a weekend away and on the final night in the hotel, they started arguing.
Sophie-Beth remembers: “Out of nowhere, Scott punched me in the face.
“I fell to the floor and he started kicking me in my ribs. He wouldn’t stop.”
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Eventually, Kinsey calmed down and the pair went to bed without a word.
The next morning, he apologised for his behaviour, and Sophie-Beth forgave him which proved to be a mistake.
She says: “I convinced myself it was a one-off but the arguments continued, and soon, Scott controlled my life.
“I wasn’t allowed to leave the house by myself, visit family or even go to the toilet on my own.”
In time, Sophie-Beth confessed Kinsey’s abuse to her mum, who encouraged her to leave him.
But, blinded by love, she stayed.
Then, in December 2020, Sophie-Beth, then 19, discovered she was pregnant.
She remembers: “I was really anxious, I was still so young.
“But when I told Scott, he jumped for joy. He was so excited to be a dad.
“I hoped having a baby would be good for us.”
But days later, when Sophie-Beth asked Kinsey if she could visit her mum over Christmas, he flipped and threw a cardboard box at her.
Sophie-Beth explains: “I didn’t feel safe around him, so I went to my mum’s.
The pain was unbearable, and I started bleeding heavily down below
Sophie-Beth Bradley
“There, I told her I was pregnant.
“She was really supportive and took me for my first midwife appointment later that week.
“I had no idea how far along I was, but had my 12-week scan booked in for the following month.”
Sophie-Beth stayed with her mum over the Christmas period, but she wasn’t able to enjoy it as Kinsey found ways to get to her.
He bombarded her with dozens of texts and calls, which she left unanswered.
On Christmas Day, he wrote, “I’m your family now. What are you going to do next Christmas when the baby is here?”
Sophie-Beth says: “I was petrified and felt like I couldn’t escape him.
“He was wearing me down, so once the festive season was over, I decided to go home.”
When she got there the house had been trashed, the bed was broken, and Kinsey had emptied bin bags all over the floor.
Bizarrely, Kinsey blamed Sophie-Beth for the mess.
“When I started to tidy up, he got really angry,” she says.
“He said, ‘You shouldn’t have gone, you’re carrying my child, you’re mine’.”
Kinsey lunged at Sophie-Beth, before kicking and punching her in the stomach. In agony, she fell to the floor, but he continued his vicious attack.
Sophie-Beth says: “The pain was unbearable, and I started bleeding heavily down below.
“I told him he was hurting the baby, but all he cared about was me spending Christmas with my mum instead of him.”
When the attack stopped and Kinsey called an ambulance Sophie-Beth was taken to Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon Tyne.
And after various tests, nurses delivered the devastating news that she was losing her baby.
But she was still too scared to tell the truth about what had happened.
She says: “I cried my heart out.
“When I called Scott to tell him the news, he bizarrely accused me of cheating with a doctor at the hospital.
“I felt broken.”
How you can get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Sophie-Beth discharged herself the following morning and still too terrified to breakaway from Kinsey, she returned home.
But instead of sympathy she was told “You’re not a woman if you can’t hold a baby.”
He managed to intimidate Sophie-Beth into staying, and his abuse escalated.
The following year, in March 2022, she woke up to him whipping her with his clothes.
He then struck her on the back with a hammer
Hysterical, Sophie-Beth managed to flee to the bathroom, where she called her dad who alerted the police.
Officers arrested Kinsey, who was later released on bail, and Sophie-Beth was asked to provide a statement.
She says: “I still couldn’t talk about the miscarriage. It was too painful to bring up.
“Scott was released on bail. Everywhere I went, I looked over my shoulder, terrified he would find me.”
That month, Kinsey pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm at South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court.
He was given a suspended sentence, restraining order and community service.
His sentence was pathetic for all he put me through.
Sophie-Beth Bradley
Sophie-Beth says: “His job was to maintain the graveyard where some of my relatives were laid to rest.
“But he’d send me pictures of my relatives’ graves, saying ‘I’m going to smash them up’.”
Disgusted, Sophie-Beth reported Kinsey, to the police.
Thug, Kinsey, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, admitted assault, breach of a restraining order, harassment and assaulting an emergency worker at South East Northumberland Magistrate’s Court.
In May 2022, he was jailed for a year for harassment.
On New Year’s Eve the same year, after serving half his sentence Kinsey was released and the harassment started up again – in one threatening message to Sophie-Beth he wrote: “I’m coming for you”.
Sophie-Beth reported the harassment to the police and confessed the extent of Kinsey’s violence in a victim impact statement.
“I told them all about the miscarriage and the physical abuse,” she says.
“I was so scared but I had to get away .”
Kinsey pleaded guilty to assault, breach of a restraining order, harassment and assaulting an emergency worker.
In July last year, he was sentenced to 44 months in prison at Newcastle Crown Court.
Although prosecutors couldn’t confirm that Kinsey caused the miscarriage, they also weren’t able to disprove it either.
As Sophie-Beth bravely faced Kinsey in court, he laughed and spat, and she’s now bracing herself for his release from prison.
“I’ve heard he’s being released in the New Year – his sentence was pathetic for all he put me through,” she says.
But Sophie-Beth is adamant that Kinsey won’t wreck her future.
“Memories of his abuse will scar me forever but I’m slowly healing and moving on with my life,” she adds.
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