A MUM who was beaten unconscious by her brute boyfriend in front of her young son has told how he left her for dead in a pool of blood.
Stacie Sinclair, 36, was punched and throttled by Alexander Ballantyne then headbutted so hard that she was left with whiplash.
The jealous thug, 33, had only been seeing her for seven months when he set upon her in her own home after finding out she planned to go on a holiday to Magaluf with pals.
Stacie said: “I just remember standing up to him and the next thing I knew, he charged towards me.
“He grabbed me by the throat and started punching and punching me. I asked him to stop, and he said, ‘Why would you make me do this?’
“I tried to get my phone to call for help but he headbutted me and knocked me out.
“The next thing I remember was waking up with my mum and dad in the room.
“My son had Facetimed them crying that I was dead. I was covered in so much blood they thought I’d been stabbed.”
The brave mum found the strength to report Ballantyne to the police last March after the monster, from Irvine, Ayrshire, fled with her car keys.
She was taken to Crosshouse Hospital, near Kilmarnock, where she had brain scans and other tests to assess the damage.
The fiend’s vicious onslaught left her with loss of vision in her left eye, prolonged whiplash, stitches in her skull and permanent scarring.
Stacie said: “As well as the physical injuries, it has been so traumatic for my whole family, my son and obviously me too.”
How you can get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200.
The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Serial abuser Ballantyne was caged for four years at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court for abusing four women in a campaign of attacks that spanned 14 years between 2011 and 2025.
He will spend two years on licence after his release from prison.
Evil Ballantyne was also given five-year non-harassment orders against his victims.
But Stacie said of the fact he will eventually go free: “It’s a difficult thing because he lives so close to me.
“Given his history it’s something that I am always going to be aware of, but I will not live my life in fear.”
Stacie says Ballantyne was on Police Scotland’s Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse — but she didn’t even know about it to check.
She is now encouraging other survivors to come forward, adding: “If victims speak out, abusers will have nowhere to hide.”
