My crazed ex broke in as my son slept, wrote on my walls in blood & sexually assaulted me… secret phone trick saved me
HEARING an almighty bang, Charlotte Whomsley was startled awake.
Realising the noise was the sound of her front door banging open, the mum-of-two was struck by terror - she wasn't expecting anyone.
10
The next thing she knew, an intruder was towering over her, but the mum-of-one quickly recognised the man inside her home as her violent ex, Lee Young.
Charlotte, 36, from Lincolnshire, was asleep on her sofa when he broke into her home whilst her son slept upstairs.
The quick-thinking mum used a trick she'd learned from a domestic violence Facebook post years before - she pressed her iPhone side button five times to secretly call the police.
It was then that Young, 39, from Leicester, horrifically sexually assaulted her - but the attack was recorded and listened to by police, before a team stormed the house to Charlotte's rescue.
Charlotte has spoken exclusively to The Sun about her harrowing ordeal for the first time to raise awareness for domestic abuse victims and help save lives.
The bath and body shop owner says: 'If I hadn't known the emergency phone trick, who knows what else Lee would have done that night.
'I pray nobody finds themselves in a situation like I did. But if you do, please remember all smartphones have a way of calling emergency services quickly and discreetly.
'Make sure you know yours, as it might save your life. It saved mine.'
In 2014, Charlotte and Young worked together at a coach company. She worked in the garage MOT side, and Young was a coach driver.
She says: 'Lee was in and out of the office every day, between his drives.
'We didn't get close until the next year when I'd just given birth to my second child. I was suffering badly with post-partum depression.
'On top of that, his dad and I had broken up just before he was born. We already had another son, aged 5.
'It was a horrendous time in my life. I was very low and at my most vulnerable.
'I found myself drawn to Lee as he gave me compliments each day. He cheered me up a lot.'
'Living hell'
The following year, in 2016, Charlotte and Young started dating but the relationship became turbulent right away.
Charlotte claims Young became "paranoid, controlling and jealous".
She says: 'He would call me disgusting and ask who'd ever want me. He was convinced I still loved my ex and accused me of having affairs.
'He used trackers to watch my house. He made me fear for my life every day.
'The mental torment was worse. I constantly tried to end things, but whenever I did, he'd harass or blackmail me.
'He sent hundreds of texts a day, calling me a s**g, tramp and threatening me.'
10
10
In one day, Charlotte claims she would have over 200 missed calls from Young. She'd blocked him, yet he'd call from unknown numbers.
He sent her photos of his blood splattered on the floor, some of him with head injuries, displaying bandages wrapped around his head.
Charlotte says: 'I'd get new phones but he'd get my new number from work.
'Terrified he'd kill himself, I'd end up replying or answering the phone. Checking he was okay.
'For three years, we were on and off as I made numerous failed attempts to escape him. He made my life a living hell.'
In May 2019, Charlotte finally cut ties for good. But Young's vile emails, texts and calls worsened.
Charlotte says: 'He made fake profiles on social media, messaging me.
'Then the next month Lee smashed through my house door with a hammer, destroying my cars and popping the tyres.
'I was horrified. I stood in the kitchen begging him to leave me alone, calling 999. I had him arrested.
'Police boarded up my door and windows, they installed a special alarm, and I also installed my own CCTV.'
But Charlotte says that Young wasn't deterred and found other ways to torment her.
She explains: 'He'd send me naked photos of myself taken from when were together. He wrote underneath, 'Shame if anyone saw these.'
'I had to see him at work too. I was caring for my sons and dealing with this all. I couldn't cope.
'Eventually, in July that year, I got a molestation order against him, banning him from coming anywhere near me. I hoped it was over but I knew nothing would stop him.
'I worried every day that he'd come to kill me or the kids one day.'
Horror break-in
Later that year, Charlotte tried to move on with her life, and began dating someone new.
In November 2019, after she'd been seeing a new man for a few weeks, things were quiet from Young.
She says: 'I hadn't been stalked or harassed by him in weeks.
'One evening, I went out on a date again. We went to a drag queen show.
'My brother came over to babysit my youngest whilst my eldest was staying at a friend's for a sleepover.'
At around 1:30am, Charlotte came back to her home alone, where her brother and son were sleeping upstairs.
'Not wanting to disturb them, I drifted off to sleep on the sofa,' she recalls.
'But moments later, I woke to the front door slamming.
'I saw Lee towering over me. He looked scruffy and was slurring his words. I think he'd been drinking or taking drugs.
'I realised he'd broken in. I shouted at him to leave me alone and go away. But Lee was screaming at me for being a 'whore' and how he'd seen me with another man.
'I was terrified and immediately thought of my son upstairs. He was my priority.
'Trembling, I moved my hand and felt my phone underneath my pillow.
'I quickly remembered a phone trick I'd learned from a domestic violence Facebook post years before.
'I reached for my phone quietly under the pillow, and pushed the side button five times. It secretly rang 999 for me.'
But the trick made a deep alarm tone.
'Lee asked what that noise and I said it was the Alexa alarm,' Charlotte says.
'I kept my gaze with Lee, who turned around, and threw the Alexa against the wall.
'He then began smashing up the living room. He was throwing the kids' toys everywhere, acting crazy.'
Charlotte knew the police were listening to the call. She began to cry, begging Young to leave the house loudly so operators could hear.
Charlotte says: 'Lee had gone insane. Somehow, he cut his finger whilst smashing up a candle holder. He began scribbling blood on the wall.
'He then forced his lips on me, making me tell him that I loved him.
'He pinned me to the sofa and forced his hand into my pants, molesting me. It was so painful. I was crying for him to stop and that he was hurting me.
'He kept stopping and starting, it was all about control for him.
'After 30 minutes of Lee breaking in, I finally heard police sirens. The 999 trick had worked.'
'Despicable lies'
As a team of armed officers neared the house, Young fled. Whilst Charlotte sprinted upstairs and scooped her son into her arms, before hiding in a neighbour's garden.
Young was arrested in front of a different neighbour's house.
Charlotte says: 'Officers came to my aid. They told me they'd heard everything on the phone. I broke down.
'As I waited for the trial, I was in bits, suffering with panic attacks and flashbacks of the night.
'The police told me the attack had been recorded, and I stupidly requested to hear it. I regretted it as it sent me into a spiral.
'For mine and my children's safety, I ended up quitting my job, selling the house and leaving Leicester.
'Sadly, the wait for the trial took years. In that time, in 2020, I luckily found love. I met Todd, 35, through work friends.
'The next year, we married and had a beautiful son. I tried to settle into my new, happy life. But I still hadn't received justice.'
In September 2024, Lee Young, now 39, of Sharpley Drive, Beaumont Leys, was found guilty of sexual assault by penetration at Leicester Crown Court.
He was sentenced to six years and eight months.
Charlotte says: 'In court, he told the jury that I'd been the one obsessed with him, ringing and begging. His lies were despicable.
'My husband supported me throughout. And thankfully, the jury saw Lee for the monster he truly was.
'Now we're trying our hardest to move on with our lives now.
'To any woman suffering from abuse, you can escape it. You must be strong, or you may lose your life.
'I also urge women to remember the silent trick on your phone. Press the side button 5 times, and the emergency SOS slider will appear.
'Drag the slider to call, then make yourself heard by coughing or responding to your abuser. It could save your life.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
18 minutes ago
- BBC News
People smuggling gang hid immigrants behind vehicle dashboard
Seven members of a people smuggling gang who hid migrants behind vehicle dashboards have been group, which also used a forgery factory in Greece to alter identity documents, brought people to the United Kingdom either by plane or Border Force officers found a Vietnamese woman "dangerously concealed inside a cramped compartment" behind a dashboard in a vehicle heading to England from France in June 2022, the Home Office gang's ringleader, Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to 13 years in prison for offences including conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and possessing an identity document with improper intention. The driver of the vehicle in which the woman was found, Jozef Balog, pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration.A month after the first woman was discovered, Border Force officers stopped the gang trying to smuggle another vulnerable woman in a secret compartment behind the dashboard of their a hearing in October, Emily Etherington pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal entry into the UK. She was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two partner, Redar Curtis, admitted the same offence following a trial and was jailed for four years and six months. The Home Office launched a wider international investigation which led to the arrest of five other gang members across the Jamal Hamadamin was arrested at Manchester Airport in November searched, his phone contained images of passports and boarding passes, along with messages between the gang about the creation and distribution of false younger brother, Muhamad Jamal Hamadamin, has also been also found counterfeit documents, more than 20,000 illicit cigarettes and £6,000 in investigation is under way to recover the gang's illegal profits."This gang put profit over lives, cramming people into sophisticated hides and planning dangerous border crossings for the most vulnerable," said Phillip Parr, who leads the immigration enforcement, criminal and financial investigations Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle said: "The unlawful activities of this gang is an example of the lengths people smugglers will go to for profit. "Their ruthless disregard for human safety is sickening and shocking." The eight gang members were:Mukhlis Jamal Hamadamin, 43, of Brook Road in Stockport, was jailed for 13 yearsMuhamad Jamal Hamadamin, 28, of Brook Road in Stockport, was jailed for 18 monthsYassen Jalal Mohammed, 44, of Woodhouse Grove in Huddersfield, was sentenced to three years and two months in prisonDlawar Omar, 40, of Pendrill Street in Hull, was sentenced to three years and one monthEmily Etherington, 38, of Guernsey Way in Ashford, Kent, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two yearsRedar Curtis, 30, of Guernsey Way in Kennington, London, was jailed for four years and six monthsJozef Kadet, 26, of Constable Street, Manchester, was sentenced to four years and two months in prisonKhales Akram Jabar, 44, of Barnaby Avenue, Middlesbrough, was jailed for two years Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
23 minutes ago
- BBC News
'It involved the Mafia, Freemasonry and the Vatican': The mysterious murder of 'God's Banker'
Forty-three years ago this week, the BBC reported on the death of Roberto Calvi, an Italian banker whose body was found in strange circumstances in the centre of London. His bank was linked to the Vatican, a masonic group and the Mafia – and his murder left many unanswered questions. Roberto Calvi was the chairman of the prestigious Banco Ambrosiano, the largest private bank in Italy. He was so closely connected to the Roman Catholic Church that he was known as "God's Banker". Warning: This article contains references to suicide and murder But in June 1982, the 62-year-old Calvi went missing. And on the morning of 18 June, his body was discovered hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London. "Calvi was at the centre of an incredibly complex web of international fraud and intrigue," reported the BBC's Hugh Scully. "It involved the Italian banking world, the underworld, the Mafia, Freemasonry and, most startling of all, the Vatican." The banker's death would trigger a wide-ranging political and financial scandal in Italy. It would involve the disappearance of millions of dollars, and leave behind an enduring mystery. Calvi had been missing for nine days before he was discovered hanging from scaffolding beneath the bridge. But it was the strange circumstances of his death that puzzled UK police. His pockets were stuffed with bricks, and with some £10,000 ($14,000) in cash in multiple currencies. He also had a fake passport bearing the name Gian Roberto Calvini. Despite this, the initial coroner's report in July 1982 found no evidence of foul play on his body, so ruled that the banker had taken his own life. But even at the time there was suspicion that something far darker was afoot. "Calvi's last journey was hardly that of a man contemplating suicide," said Scully. "Indeed, he had made the most elaborate plans to get out of Italy secretly." The banker had shaved off his moustache to avoid being recognised before disguising his route out of Italy by going through other countries first and hiring a private plane to spirit him to London. "He had taken a one-month lease on a flat in Chelsea and then there was a false passport and an airline ticket," Scully continued. "Inside the passport was a current visa for Brazil and the airline ticket was for a one-way ticket to Rio de Janeiro. Why, you might ask, go to all those lengths simply to finish up on the end of a rope under Blackfriars Bridge?" Calvi's was not the only unexpected death at Banco Ambrosiano. The day before his body was found, his personal secretary Teresa Corrocher had also apparently jumped to her death from the fourth floor of the bank's headquarters in Milan. She left behind a note condemning her boss, writing that he should be "twice cursed for the damage he caused to the bank and all its employees". Calvi and his bank had operated in a murky world where finance, organised crime, politics and religion overlapped. Founded in 1896, Banco Ambrosiano had a long history with the Catholic Church – and the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), often known as the Vatican bank, had become its main shareholder. IOR holds the bank accounts of the Pope and the clergy, but it also manages the church's financial investments. Because the Vatican is its own country, Italian regulators have no control or oversight of the IOR. Mafia connections "The Vatican is entirely free of exchange controls and other government regulations; secrecy is everything," said Scully. "The Vatican has to account to no one for its financial dealings, and enormous sums of money can be sent anywhere in the world without anyone knowing about it other than those directly involved." Through his role as head of Banco Ambrosiano, Calvi had forged close ties with his opposite number in the IOR, its chairman Archbishop Paul Marcinkus. In turn, this American priest had financial connections and associates that raised eyebrows. "Best known of these was Michele Sindona, an international banker with mafia connections who is now serving a 25-year jail sentence for fraud in the US," said Scully. Sindona, who was known in banking circles as "the Shark", would later be transferred to prison in Italy where he would meet his own suspicious end in 1986, after drinking coffee laced with cyanide. Sindona had mentored Calvi in his banking career since the late 1960s, and they both belonged to a shadowy masonic lodge called Propaganda Two (P2). The masonic group was linked to extreme right-wing groups and was run by Italian multi-millionaire and avowed fascist Licio Gelli. It counted leading figures in the armed forces, politics, business and newspapers among its members. An Italian journalist, Count Paolo Filo della Torre, told the BBC in 1982 that while P2 was theoretically a masonic lodge, it "practically was something very much associated with [the] mafia and with all sorts of dirty dealings". In March 1981, Italian police raided Gelli's offices and discovered in a safe a list of hundreds of alleged P2 members, including politicians, military officers and media tycoon and future prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The revelation caused a political explosion. The Italian prime minister Arnaldo Forlani and his whole cabinet resigned, a police chief shot himself, and a former minister was rushed to hospital after taking an overdose. The police raids also uncovered compromising documents that implicated Calvi in fraudulent practices and illegal offshore operations. By May 1981, the banker had been arrested and found guilty of currency violations. He was sentenced to four years in prison but was released on bail while pending appeal. Calvi used this as an opportunity to skip the country with a briefcase full of damning documents about Ambrosiano's activities. Within days of his arrival in London his bank had collapsed, leaving behind huge debts. Missing billions "Before Roberto Calvi disappeared, Italian investigators discovered that $1.5bn was missing from his bank," said Scully. "It's now believed that this money was sent abroad through the Vatican bank which escapes Italian exchange controls. Some of that money was lent to South American countries at low interest rates as directed by the Catholic Church. The rest was put into ghost companies in Luxembourg and South America from where it was returned to Italy to buy shares for Calvi in the Banco Ambrosiano. By this method he was able to use bank funds to build up his own personal fortune." Marcinkus was also sought for questioning but was granted immunity as a Vatican employee, and he maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing. The Vatican never admitted any legal responsibility for Banco Ambrosiano's collapse, but in 1984 said it had a moral responsibility for the bankruptcy and made a voluntary contribution to the bank's creditors of $406 million. More like this:• The woman who inspired The Sopranos• The bizarre siege behind Stockholm Syndrome• Why The Godfather was a stark warning for the US Investigators believed that the shell companies that Calvi had set up were being used to move money both to support secret political activities in other countries and to launder money for clients such as the mafia. "Police investigations of Calvi's affairs thus threaten many powerful people in Italy and some think provided a motive for his murder," said Scully. Filo della Torre, who knew Calvi, told the BBC in 1982 that he believed the banker had been killed, and that his body being left under Blackfriars Bridge indicated masonic symbolism. He said that P2 members wore black robes to their meetings and referred to themselves as "frati neri", Italian for "black friars". When Scully said that this made Calvi death's sound "like something out of the Borgias", the Italian journalist replied: "I'm afraid it does very much. We are going back in [a] sort of Italian tradition." Calvi's family also refused to accept the suicide ruling, which was overturned in 1983 when a second inquest delivered an open verdict on the death. But his family, including his widow, Clara Calvi, kept pushing for the police to investigate, hiring their own private investigators and forensic experts to look into the banker's death. After Calvi's body was exhumed in 1998, evidence mounted that he could not have killed himself. Forensic tests showed that injuries to his neck were inconsistent with death by hanging, and that Calvi's hands had never touched the bricks in the pockets of his clothes. In October 2002, Italian judges concluded that the banker had indeed been murdered. An Italian police investigation was launched, and in October 2005, five people went on trial in Rome, charged with Calvi's murder. The prosecutor, Luca Tescaroli, argued that the banker had been murdered for stealing Mafia money which he was meant to launder, and that Calvi was planning to blackmail several other prominent people, including politicians. In June 2007, after a 20-month trial, Sardinian financier Flavio Carboni, his former girlfriend Manuela Kleinszig, Roman entrepreneur Ernesto Diotallevi, Calvi's former driver bodyguard Silvano Vittor, and convicted Cosa Nostra treasurer Pippo Calo – who was serving two life sentences for unrelated Mafia crimes – were all acquitted of any involvement in Calvi's death. Speculation remains about who commissioned and ultimately carried out the killing of the Italian banker, but to date no one has been convicted. -- For more stories and never-before-published radio scripts to your inbox, sign up to the In History newsletter, while The Essential List delivers a handpicked selection of features and insights twice a week. For more Culture stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Sun
40 minutes ago
- The Sun
Cannabis-smoking nursery worker GUILTY of punching, grabbing and pinching 22 babies in sick attacks caught on camera
A CANNABIS- smoking nursery worker has been found guilty of punching, grabbing and pinching 22 babies in sick attacks. Roksana Lecka left the children with scratches to their faces and necks and pinch marks on their inner legs and stomachs. 4 She also kicked one young boy in the face and stomped on him in footage that left the courtroom horrified. The 22-year-old was accused of "badly harming" the tots over a six month period while working at the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, South West London. The nursery, which charges up to £1,900 a month to look after children aged up to two years, follows the Montessori method of teaching. She has now been found guilty of 15 counts of child cruelty after previously admitting seven charges. Lecka was cleared of two counts relating to one child at Kingston Crown Court. The court also heard how there were no apparent safeguarding issues when Lecka was hired. But last summer, CCTV of the baby room appeared to show the worker pinch a child - leaving them with red marks. In footage played to the court, Lecka could also be seen pinching the legs, back and under arm of a girl who can be seen crying. Further footage showed her pinching the side of a girl's face and grabbing her hair. Lecka can be seen vaping in another clip before she took a baby from a crib and pinched and punched her side. One victim was sat at a table when Lecka repeatedly pinched her - causing the girl to cry, it was said. She then grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her hair so her head made contact with the table. The court heard Lecka was "looking around" at other members of staff to see who was "watching when these assaults occur". One colleague reported seeing the worker assault a boy by pinching his legs - leading the headteacher to check CCTV. Jurors were told the footage showed Lecka also pinching his nose, body, wrist, and mouth. Police trawled through a month's worth of CCTV and discovered the babies had been "badly treated in some way". They also seized a pair of trainers Lecka had used to kicking a baby four times in the face and step on his shoulder. In her evidence, Lecka told the court she would "smoke cannabis quite regularly with my boyfriend". She said: "At that time I was really addicted to vapes, I would smoke two little crystal disposables a day. "I was vaping in nursery. Because if I did not smoke I would get agitated and fed up. I couldn't keep asking to go to the toilet. Any opportunity I would take. I would be really moody and fed up. 'It would be a couple of puffs and then I'd put it away… I would put it in my bra." She also told the court how she was "so tired" at the time and was not getting any sleep. Lecka claimed she was "addicted" to her boyfriend so was "over-prioritising" him. Her lawyer also claimed she was "worn out, had bad period pains, was short of energy, she was not her normally bubbly self". But prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC told jurors that smoking cannabis and not being able to vape were "excuses" for the alleged offences. She added: "It is clear her actions are deliberate or at the very last careless, but on most occasions we say deliberate. "There are, of course, some clips where Ms Lecka - as we put it - keeps going back for more." Lecka was arrested on July 5 last year and said in a prepared statement: "I deny assaulting any children at the Riverside Nursery…I went into work that day and had a normal day. There were no accidents where any child seemed hurt. "We have procedures for the handling of the children, which I adhered to. I am unaware how any injury to these children were caused." Lecka admitted two charges of child cruelty but denies 21 further offences. 4 4
