BBC News NI<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A domestic abuse survivor has called on the justice system to sentence perpetrators more quickly after they are convicted.<\/p>\n Joanne Scott, from Ballygowan in County Down, spent seven years in a relationship with Christopher John Black, 43, of Beechfield Drive in Donaghadee, County Down.<\/p>\n He was jailed last month for committing offences against his former partner, including sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.<\/p>\n The Department of Justice has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The 37-year-old mother described the justice system as “a mess”.<\/p>\n “It (the case) kept getting adjourned and kept getting adjourned, and it was literally every month,” she told BBC News NI. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Warning: This page contains distressing details and photos.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Joanne said the abuse started about six months into the relationship when “he threw a remote” at her.<\/p>\n When she found out she was pregnant, she said she felt “stuck”.<\/p>\n “That was me just putting up with it basically from then on in,” she said.<\/p>\n “And then it just got steadily worse, like black eyes for my birthday, black eyes left, right and centre. <\/p>\n “I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup if I was going out without him. I had to wear makeup when I was going out with him, because apparently I didn’t look good enough.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Joanne ended up in hospital after a period of not eating.<\/p>\n “I was drinking and my body started shutting down,” she said.<\/p>\n “He was the problem. I was in hospital for a week and then I came home back to the abuse.”<\/p>\n At this point, Joanne said she feared she had “six months to a year to survive here” and worried about what would happen to her children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Black sexually assaulted her.<\/p>\n After that, she thought to herself: “‘He has no boundaries, no boundaries whatsoever’.”<\/p>\n She “still stuck it out” until her friend came over.<\/p>\n “She sat me down, and said: ‘Joanne, you need to do something’, and she sat with me for hours on end.” <\/p>\n “‘Right, this is it. I have to do it’. And that’s when I phoned the police,” Joanne said.<\/p>\n “That (sexual assault) was my cut ties sort of thing. I was like: ‘No, I have got to do this’.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Joanne thinks if the justice system was faster it would help everyone.<\/p>\n For her, it felt like the process was “dragging”.<\/p>\n “I was getting myself worked up because I was like: ‘I need the sentencing, I need to have justice, I need to see this for myself, I need closure’.<\/p>\n “And then every month, you gear yourself up and it was the day of sentencing that they ring you and say: ‘No, it’s not happening’.<\/p>\n “I think that was the biggest problem with the justice system.<\/p>\n “I’m supposed to be the victim here. Am I not allowed to have closure?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Black was sentenced to six years – three years to be served in prison and the rest under supervised licence conditions.<\/p>\n Joanne welcomed the sentence when it finally came and feels like her former partner “got what he deserved”.<\/p>\n “It restored my sort-of faith in the justice system,” she said.<\/p>\n Joanne still laments “why I put up with it (the abuse) for so long”.<\/p>\n She hopes that by sharing her story it will encourage others experiencing domestic violence to “fight” through the justice system.<\/p>\n “You need to just do it because there is the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.<\/p>\n “You need to just get through it and it’s hard. Take every support that you’re given.<\/p>\n “Just do it because the world’s not going to change if you don’t.”<\/p>\n The Department of Justice has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you are affected by any of the issues in this article details of help and support are available on the BBC Action Line<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Joanne](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/aa62\/live\/c1626ee0-1143-11f0-bf77-53586c0d950e.png.webp\")
Joanne Scott<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Joanne Scott<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘He was the problem’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Joanne](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/cddc\/live\/19a3ce30-10a1-11f0-9aa4-254a91e4e856.png.webp\")
Joanne Scott<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nJustice system<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Joanne Scott<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n‘Just do it’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n