My boyfriend’s abuse was bad I slept in the attic as my 8-year-old comforted me & told me ‘it’d be okay’ – I was broken
AN abuse victim who was stalked by her partner and tracked with a hidden Apple AirTag is urging women to check their partner’s domestic violence records.
Stephanie Boardman, 31, is now too afraid to leave the house after running away from her relationship with Franco Lucci, 33.
The couple got together in 2022. While he seemed ‘charming’ at first, things went downhill after they moved in together.
Franco began to accuse her of cheating, got angry when she spoke with friends, called her names including ‘sl**’ and ‘b****’, covertly recorded her conversations, and even smashed her phone against a wall.
The mum-of-three said: “I’d reached a point where I couldn’t keep sleeping in the attic with my daughters in floods of tears, and having my eight-year-old stroking my head, telling me it was all going to be OK.
“It’s not normal, it should be the other way around. That was one of the final straws for me.
“I slept in the attic the night before I ran, with my 14-month-old son in the bed.
“I woke up because he was wet, he’d seeped through his pyjamas and the bedding.
“I got up, got him changed, and put him in the bed with Franco to keep him warm. Immediately Franco started going off on one again.
“I went down, got myself changed, took my son with me. I thought ‘this is it, if I don’t go now, I won’t go’, and I went.”
Just before they moved in together, one of Stephanie’s daughters found an Apple AirTag hidden under the seat in her car – which the now-convicted stalker said he had simply lost.
Later in the relationship, Stephanie found that Lucci had activated a Google Maps tracker on her phone without her knowledge after he texted asking why she was at a particular location.
Just weeks before she finally ran away, Stephanie found her boyfriend would know what she had been saying on private phone conversations with her own mother.
She later found out he had covertly placed a phone in their living room to record her while he was out.
Stephanie said: “I let a lot of things slide, because I did love him. He had that control over me.
“He had that power over me, I was completely in love with him so I did a lot of things that he did, and let the red flags at the beginning slide.”
Clare’s Law
Now, Stephanie, who lives in Wigan, Greater Manchester, is hoping to promote the use of ‘Clare’s Law‘, also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme.
After reporting Franco to police in February 2024, she found out he was known to Avon and Somerset Police, having made ‘threats to kill’ a victim and punching a hole in a wall.
The disclosure also noted that Lucci had a non-molestation order against him in relation to one of his former partners.
The abusive partner was released pending police enquiries, but began to stalk his ex-partner in June 2024, trying to phone her 71 times and showing up at her home despite an order not to contact her.
I would recommend highly utilising Clare’s Law
Stephanie
Stephanie said: “I didn’t originally know about Clare’s Law, it was the police that applied for the disclosure on my behalf, because they deemed it in my best interest.
“Originally I retracted my statement. At that point I was still in love with him and very much in a fantasyland of ‘we’ll get back together and everything will be OK’.
“Then it just went worse. I got a fire in my bonnet. The Clare’s Law highlighted so much of his past.
“I would recommend highly utilising Clare’s Law.”
On April 7, Lucci, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Bolton Crown Court
At Bolton Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said: “This is a case which involves insidious and pernicious behaviour by you, where you had used an AirTag and have activated the tracking of her phone on your device and used a secondary audio recording device in her home for up to 12 hours at a time to monitor every aspect of her life. “You have broken her devices and you have behaved in the most appalling manner towards her.”
He added: “You should really carry around a red flag to warn any future partners of your misconduct.”
The abuser was also given a restraining order for 10 years which means he can’t go within 50 metres of any address Stephanie lives at, and he’s subject to a five-month curfew from 8pm to 7am.
Stephanie says she’s glad justice has been served – but she is still too afraid to leave the home alone.
She said: “I don’t work at the minute, due to everything that’s been going on. I haven’t left the house since February last year.
“I don’t leave the house on my own. One of his big threats was he was going to take [my son] and run away to Italy and I’d never see him again.
“That’s been one of the forefront fears in my head. If I go out on my own, without backup, if he approaches me all he has to do is grab the pram and he’s gone.
“I don’t leave the house out of fear of that.”
Domestic abuse - how to get help
DOMESTIC abuse can affect anyone - including men - and does not always involve physical violence.
Here are some signs that you could be in an abusive relationship:
- Emotional abuse – Including being belittled, blamed for the abuse – gaslighting – being isolated from family and friends, having no control over your finances, what you where and who you speak to
- Threats and intimidation – Some partners might threaten to kill or hurt you, destroy your belongings, stalk or harass you
- Physical abuse – This can range from slapping or hitting to being shoved over, choked or bitten.
- Sexual abuse – Being touched in a way you do not want to be touched, hurt during sex, pressured into sex or forced to have sex when you do not consent.
If any of the above apply to you or a friend, you can call these numbers:
- The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247 for free at any time, day or night
- Men who are being abused can call Respect Men’s Advice Line on 0808 8010 327 or ManKind on 0182 3334 244
- Those who identify as LGBT+ can ring Galop on 0800 999 5428
- If you are in immediate danger or fear for your life, always ring 999
Remember, you are not alone.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse over the course of their lifetime.
Every 30 seconds the police receive a call for help relating to domestic abuse.