Woman marries her stalker
Published: 2013 September 08 09:30:30 (5395 Views)
Keren Scott (37) has married a man who stalked and terrified her for more than 18 months.
He convinced her he had spies watching her house 24/7 and even threatened to kidnap her young daughter.
Karen's stalker was the man who had once professed to love her – the father of her little girl.
He was wreaking revenge after she dumped him for his lack of commitment to their long-distance relationship.
Keren and Martin, 48, first met in Blackpool in 1997.
Keren tells how, fearing for her life and for that of their daughter, she was eventually forced to move home to escape his sinister attentions.
But, incredibly the couple, from Crewe, are not only back together again, they are indeed now married.
Keren says: "There was a time I was terrified for fear of what he might do to us but I truly believe that if Martin hadn't done what he did, we wouldn't have ended up married.
"I'm not justifying his actions but I now truly believe that he did it out of love. It could have ended with him in prison, but I chose to forgive him and I'm glad I did.
"I know it's controversial but the pain of being apart from someone I love was worse than the fear he put me through."
After Keren had moved away, it seems their disappearance shocked Martin into realising just how awful his behaviour had been, and he finally came to terms with their separation.
As he left her alone, gradually Keren's fear began to subside. "When a few months went by and he still hadn't been in touch, I started to get my confidence back," she says.
"Then one day when I picked up the phone I heard his voice. I panicked but he simply apologised for his behaviour and just asked to see his daughter.
"Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself agreeing to meet him.
"We met in a public place, and he was calm and gentle, and great with Katie. It was as though the man who had threatened and abused me was a different person and Martin was back.
"Gradually I remembered the reasons I fell in love with him in the first place and we started seeing each other as a couple again.
"People thought I was mad but I asked the man who had stalked me to move back in," she says.
"If I was forgiving him I wanted him back in my life properly. I wanted to live together, to get married and for him to be a proper dad.
"My family and friends were wary at first, and it took me a long time to work up the trust again. There were moments when I wondered what I was doing but I loved him, and that was stronger."
In 2009, after six months back together, Martin asked Keren to marry him and she accepted, despite the shock of her family and friends.
"I knew people would think I was crazy," she says.
"The only way I can explain it is that for a while someone else took over Martin's body. I was terrified of that person but now Martin is back."
Martin himself says: "Looking back, I can't believe some of the things I did to Keren – it's like I was a different person. It makes me feel sick to think of the way I threatened her.
"I drove the woman I loved out of her own home and made her feel unsafe, and that's something I have to deal with for the rest of my life.
"For all the years we were together, I was caught between a fear of commitment and a fear of being rejected. That's why I was so suspicious and controlling.
"When she left, I became obsessed and I just couldn't let go. But being told she was escorted away from her own home by the police was a real wake-up call. I knew the only way to get her back was to stay away.
"I love Keren and Katie more than anything in the world and I am determined to spend the rest of my life making up for my mistakes."
The couple married in 2010 and Keren says: "I'm just grateful Martin didn't end up in jail because I believe you only act in that way if you truly love someone.
"That same love has given us three wonderful years of marriage and hopefully many more years to come."
- Mirror
He convinced her he had spies watching her house 24/7 and even threatened to kidnap her young daughter.
Karen's stalker was the man who had once professed to love her – the father of her little girl.
He was wreaking revenge after she dumped him for his lack of commitment to their long-distance relationship.
Keren and Martin, 48, first met in Blackpool in 1997.
Keren tells how, fearing for her life and for that of their daughter, she was eventually forced to move home to escape his sinister attentions.
But, incredibly the couple, from Crewe, are not only back together again, they are indeed now married.
Keren says: "There was a time I was terrified for fear of what he might do to us but I truly believe that if Martin hadn't done what he did, we wouldn't have ended up married.
"I'm not justifying his actions but I now truly believe that he did it out of love. It could have ended with him in prison, but I chose to forgive him and I'm glad I did.
"I know it's controversial but the pain of being apart from someone I love was worse than the fear he put me through."
After Keren had moved away, it seems their disappearance shocked Martin into realising just how awful his behaviour had been, and he finally came to terms with their separation.
As he left her alone, gradually Keren's fear began to subside. "When a few months went by and he still hadn't been in touch, I started to get my confidence back," she says.
"Then one day when I picked up the phone I heard his voice. I panicked but he simply apologised for his behaviour and just asked to see his daughter.
"Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself agreeing to meet him.
"We met in a public place, and he was calm and gentle, and great with Katie. It was as though the man who had threatened and abused me was a different person and Martin was back.
"Gradually I remembered the reasons I fell in love with him in the first place and we started seeing each other as a couple again.
"People thought I was mad but I asked the man who had stalked me to move back in," she says.
"If I was forgiving him I wanted him back in my life properly. I wanted to live together, to get married and for him to be a proper dad.
"My family and friends were wary at first, and it took me a long time to work up the trust again. There were moments when I wondered what I was doing but I loved him, and that was stronger."
In 2009, after six months back together, Martin asked Keren to marry him and she accepted, despite the shock of her family and friends.
"I knew people would think I was crazy," she says.
"The only way I can explain it is that for a while someone else took over Martin's body. I was terrified of that person but now Martin is back."
Martin himself says: "Looking back, I can't believe some of the things I did to Keren – it's like I was a different person. It makes me feel sick to think of the way I threatened her.
"I drove the woman I loved out of her own home and made her feel unsafe, and that's something I have to deal with for the rest of my life.
"For all the years we were together, I was caught between a fear of commitment and a fear of being rejected. That's why I was so suspicious and controlling.
"When she left, I became obsessed and I just couldn't let go. But being told she was escorted away from her own home by the police was a real wake-up call. I knew the only way to get her back was to stay away.
"I love Keren and Katie more than anything in the world and I am determined to spend the rest of my life making up for my mistakes."
The couple married in 2010 and Keren says: "I'm just grateful Martin didn't end up in jail because I believe you only act in that way if you truly love someone.
"That same love has given us three wonderful years of marriage and hopefully many more years to come."
- Mirror
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