"After 27 Years of Abuse, I Finally Escaped My Monster Husband Who Treated Me Like an Animal"

A MUM was left with Stockholm syndrome after suffering 27 years of horrific abuse at the hands of her monster husband.

Carolyn Quinn developed the complex PTSD you get in kidnap victims while brutal Kenneth Quinn, 50, repeatedly raped and battered her throughout their marriage.

Carolyn Quinn suffered 27 years of abuse at the hands of her monster husband KennethCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk Carolyn developed Stockholm syndrome during the abuseCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk

He threw her down stairs, smashed her head against furniture, locked her naked outside their home and slashed her face with a bank card so badly she resembled a “car crash victim”.

The attacks also caused her to suffer a miscarriage.

Occupational health specialist Carolyn explained she eventually plucked up the courage to leave the thug after the traumatic loss of a family member in 2021.

She said: “I knew I had to walk away from the hell I was living in.

“I thought he was going to kill me and got to the stage where I thought it would be easier to die.”

She has since underwent trauma counselling and is slowly but surely feeling huge benefits.

She said: “I have Stockholm syndrome – a type of complex PTSD you get in kidnap victims.

“My therapist saved my life and I finally realised this wasn’t normal. I had to retrain my brain.”

She added: “I’m keeping as fit the best I can and don’t have as many negative thoughts as I had about my appearance.

“My friends say they’ve got the ‘old Carolyn back’ – and I’m starting to feel like it too.

“I’m learning to love and accept myself.”

Carolyn met Quinn in her home town of Paisley in 1993. They married and bought a flat together within months but her ordeal began soon after she became pregnant.

She said: “He violently beat me. I was begging him not to punch me in the stomach. He cried when it was over – and that would be the only time he showed any remorse.”

“He even threw me down a flight of concrete stairs when I was eight months pregnant.”

Carolyn ended up in hospital after concerned neighbours alerted police — who only issued warnings.

She said: “Domestic violence was viewed differently back then.”

She hoped the abuse would stop when they became parents but added: “I was battered while holding our baby in my arms. How he didn’t get injured, was a miracle.”

Carolyn was raped for the first time when their son was around 18 months old.

She said: “It happened out of nowhere. I tried to fight him off but he was a big, heavy guy.

“All I could think about was my baby in the next room.

Carolyn bravely escaped her domestic abuser and reported him to policeCredit: Alan MacGregor Ewing Kenneth Quinn was jailed for 15 yearsCredit: Supplied

“The rapes and attacks would happen every few weeks for the rest of our marriage.

“I’d hide dark bruises under makeup and long-sleeved tops – even in the height of summer.

“I’ve had broken fingers, wrist, a broken arm, broken ribs — and lost a baby because of that monster.”

Carolyn became suicidal, but still couldn’t bring herself to leave him.

She said: “He made me believe I wouldn’t manage on my own and my family didn’t love me. Due to the gravity of the situation, I just didn’t have the mental strength to leave.

“He treated me like a dog, ordering me to sit in our room for hours after every attack. I’d have to ask permission to use the toilet.”

Carolyn suspected Quinn of having multiple affairs as he fell in and out of jobs, including working for a well-known knitwear employer in Hawick, as an Aldi manager and running a dog grooming salon in Paisley.

In another attack, Quinn slashed her with a bank card.

She said: “I looked like a car crash victim. My nose was cut open.

“My GP’s medical notes documenting all 12 facial injuries, were a saving grace and used in court as proof.”

The court case was heard at Glasgow High CourtCredit: Alamy

Carolyn and her son were also injured when Quinn flew into a rage on her birthday.

She said: “He threw my vase of flowers and birthday cake across the room before bashing my skull open, then went after my son, who’d smashed a plate to distract him.

“I ran upstairs after them, but he flung us both down the stairs.

“He beat my son before locking me out the back naked.”

Another time, he caused his son to be bitten by a dog because his aggressive behaviour upset the animal.

The brute was also mentally abusive during his reign of terror from 1994 to 2021.

Carolyn added: “He picked every fault and controlled every aspect of my life.

“I stopped seeing my friends and didn’t forge any new friendships in case anybody asked too many questions. He even cut up my clothes.

“It got to the point when I’d be getting battered and wouldn’t feel the pain.”

Carolyn got some respite in August 2018, when she moved to Kelso, Roxburghshire, for a work promotion.

“He encouraged it because it was more money, but left his job as soon as I moved, which is exactly what he did years earlier when I fell pregnant with our son – leaving me with the added pressure of paying for everything.”

Quinn moved down the following year, promising Carolyn of a new start.

But the attacks continued.

“One time he punched me so hard, I fell backwards and was left unconscious. He begged me to go to hospital but I was too terrified. I’ve got dents all over my head”, she added.

Isolating together during the pandemic was “a nightmare”, with him going into a jealous strop if she phoned family.

“He took control of my social media pages and even controlled the heating on his phone –which was unbearable in winter.”

Carolyn finally walked out on July 23, 2021.

She said: “We had a horrific family tragedy which hammered home how precious life was. I knew it was now or never.

“I managed to sneak out the door to my car, as he was still shouting in a rage upstairs.”

Carolyn drove to a nearby police station. Quinn was charged within weeks.

Quinn was brought to justice last year when he was jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of ten charges at Glasgow High Court, including repeated rape, assault to severe injury and abusive behaviour.

He was also convicted of repeated attacks on their son.

During the harrowing trial last year, Quinn, of Elderslie, Renfrewshire, initially denied any sexual abuse but later confessed.

Jailing him and ordering a indefinite non-harassment order, Judge Lady Stacey said: “Your wife was afraid of you and she did not feel safe in her own home.

“Your son said he had no happy memories of his childhood as he was always afraid of what might happen to his mother and himself.

“The only appropriate sentence in a lengthy period of imprisonment to punish you for what you have done and mark the seriousness of the harm that you have caused and mark society’s disapproval of it.”

Carolyn is slowly managing to piece her life back together and cried tears of joy as Quinn was led away from the dock in handcuffs.

She said: “He’s finally getting what he deserves.

“He’s obviously a psychopath and was born a monster.

“I’m a survivor –and it’s cathartic to get rid of my huge secret.”

Call to refuse violent rapist’s bail

Carolyn is calling for all accused rapists in cases involving violence are refused bail, after having to deal with Quinn living just 10 miles away in Jedburgh, she claims, while awaiting trial.

She said: “Two weeks before the trial I was coming out of my local supermarket and he was 150 yards away from me. He told the courts he was up in Renfrewshire, but he wasn’t.

“The fact that he wasn’t held on remand after being charged, meant two years of anxiety and worrying about his whereabouts – and I don’t want future victims going through this torment.”

Carolyn is sharing her brutal experience to encourage others to leave an abusive relationship and get help before it’s too late.

She added: “And if anyone ever confides in you about being abused, you also have a duty of care -report it for them.

“Neighbours friends, family – please speak up for them.”