Fareham mother reveals how ex left her blind in one eye
A mother has revealed her terror at being left with a shattered eye socket after her boyfriend lashed out at her in a brutal attack.
Ruth Collier, 27, of Fareham, Hampshire, lived on eggshells with her violent partner Paul Davis, 38, and suffered a beating so severe that she needed an operation to save her eyesight after he landed a punch on her cheekbone.
The ordeal, for which Davis is now serving a prison sentence, left her unable to see for nearly three months and the mother-of-one now has a metal plate in her face.
Damage: Ruth Collier, 27, of Fareham, Hampshire was left blind in one eye for nearly three months after a brutal attack by her then boyfriend Paul Davis, 38
The couple met when Ruth moved into a room that Davis was decorating and they quickly hit it off, falling pregnant within a year of starting their romance
The attack came after their relationship deteriorated when Davis began using drugs.Â
Ruth explains how her former partner showered her with blows, saying: 'I felt the bones in my cheek break, as I fell to the floor, screaming. As the vision in my right eye went, I panicked, thinking that he had beaten me blind.'
Screaming 'stupid sl**,' he then kicked Ruth in the ribs, before leaving her, writhing on the floor of the rented accommodation they shared, in agony.
'The coward turned on his heels and ran off,' Ruth says, remembering the attack on December 28, 2016.
'Finding my phone, I called the emergency services and was whisked to hospital. Luckily, my vision started coming back, but it took three months. For ages, it was like looking through the bottom of a milk bottle.
Treated at Portsmouth's Queen Alexandra Hospital, doctors told Ruth her eye socket had been shattered and she still needs a further operation.
She says: 'I couldn't sleep for weeks, as my face was so painful and I was left with a mark, but, luckily, it was below my eye line.'Â
Ruth first fell for Davis when they met in April 2014, as he was decorating the rented room she was moving into, following a relationship break-up.
Instantly attracted to him, he helped carry some of her boxes and they enjoyed a cup of tea together.
She remembered: 'He was very flirty, telling me I was gorgeous and asking if I was single.
Davis' mugshot, taken by Hampshire Police, after his arrest for attacking Ruth Collier
Davis' temper frayed further after Ruth gave birth to their son; he would fly into jealous rages if she spoke to other men
'When I told him I was moving in because my relationship had ended, he asked for my number, so I gave it to him and we started dating.
'Warm and considerate, I thought he might be the one to restore my faith in men.'
Moving in with her after three months, they enjoyed a successful relationship until, a year in, Ruth fell pregnant, but miscarried.
She explains: 'It was a devastating blow for both of us. He became snappy and moody all the time. I couldn't seem to do anything right.
Then, before a rare night out together, he accused her of looking 'like a sl**,' upsetting her so much she changed out of her skirt, into jeans and a long-sleeved top.
He later accused her of sleeping with a man at the bar, when she had simply asked him if he was being served.
Following his possessive outburst, Davis became so controlling, he insisted on her giving him the passwords to all her social media accounts and made her stop seeing all her male friends.
Now recovered although with a metal plate in her face, Ruth was haunted by the attack afterwards and is urging other women to speak out if they are living with an abusive partner
He also started abusing recreational drugs and on May 28, 2016, when she came home five minutes late, he attacked her.
She said: 'He called me a 'cheating whore,' grabbing me by the throat and pinning me to the wall.
'After that, the pushing and shoving became more or less daily.
 I remember him shouting, "Don't you dare roll your eyes at me, sl**" . I'd only been to the loo, yet he insisted I'd been chatting up blokes...
'I'd be covered in bruises and he'd apologise â€" convincing me he wouldn't do it again.
'He even told me he was insecure because his ex had cheated on him.'
Despite everything, Ruth chose to believe Davis when he said he would change â€" mainly because she wanted him to.
'He'd been such a good man, before my miscarriage,' she said.
'Kind and funny, we'd really enjoyed being together and I just wanted everything to be like it was again.'
Paul even started attending self-help meetings to deal with his drug problems, which Ruth took as a sign that he was serious about wanting to change.
And when, five months after her miscarriage, she fell pregnant again, they were both sure the baby was what they needed to put their relationship back on track.
After the couple suffered a miscarriage, Davis' behaviour began to change and despite attending self-help meetings for his drug problems, his bursts of anger continued
Ruth recalled: 'My labour lasted less than two hours, so I didn't have time to get to hospital.
'Paul helped me to deliver our son at home, He was my hero.'
But soon he was abusing drugs again â€" resulting in Ruth putting their son into care.
'I knew it was for the best, until Paul got clean, but I was heartbroken,' she said.
She was finally pushed to her limit on December 28, when Paul assaulted her at home, after accusing her of talking to other men.
'I remember him shouting, 'Don't you dare roll your eyes at me, sl**,' she said. 'I'd only been to the loo, yet he insisted I'd been c hatting up blokes. He called me a liar, saying "You're a whore and a nasty piece of work."'
It was after Ruth snapped, screaming at him to 'get out,' that Davis attacked her, shattering her eye socket â€" although she did not officially end their relationship until he appeared in court.
In the run up to the trial, he texted her, begging for forgiveness.
Forgiveness: Davis text his former partner constantly as the trial approached, begging her to give him a second chance and drop the charges
Judge Robert Pawson, who jailed Paul Davis for 14 months, said the attack on Ruth Collier hadn't just been physical but also caused psychological pain
'When I failed to reply, he became aggressive,' she recalls.
Paul Davis admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of breaching a non-molestation order and breaching a suspended sentence for an unrelated ABH, at Portsmouth Crown Court in March 2017.
I told the court: 'I know he will end up killing me if I don't leave him, if I don't end the relationship in the court case today.'
Judge Robert Pawson, who jailed him for 14 months, told Davis: 'I've heard what Miss Collier has said and it was quite clear that she has certainly loved you.
'Significantly, the pain you caused her was not just physical, it was psychological pain.'
Ruth, whose son has now been adopted, is trying to rebuild her life and is keen to encourage other people to leave violent relationships, before it's too late.
She said: 'Paul Davis wrecked my life in so many ways. I'm telling my story to encourage other women in violent relationships to speak out, get out and find help, before it's too late.'
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