A beautician who lost an ear in an acid attack orchestrated by her controlling ex-boyfriend is urging victims of domestic abuse to ‘trust their gut feeling’ and leave toxic relationships at the first sign of trouble.
Adele Bellis, 27, was left permanently scarred and partially bald after being sprayed with sulphuric acid at a bus stop in her home town of Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 2014.
It was the culmination of six years of mental and physical abuse at the hands of ex-boyfriend Anthony Riley. Over the course of their on-and-off relationship Riley had beaten Adele on numerous occasions, imprisoned her against her will, posted revenge porn on social media and arranged for her to be stabbed in the face.
However, despite trying to escape her psychotic ex time and time again it was only through Riley’s final act of cruelty that she was able to finally break free.
Adele said: ‘If he hadn’t done that to me I would still be trapped in that nightmare or I’d be dead by now.’ ‘When you’re in abusive relationships you know it’s wrong and all my friends would tell me to just leave him.
‘I wasn’t in denial – I hated him. He was a walking devil.
‘For years I was just with him to be on his good side. The problem when you are in that situation is ‘how do I get out?”.
Riley was jailed for 13 years for his part in the attack but many other women are still suffering at the hands of their abusers.
