Devoted mum fights to raise awareness after daughter took her own life following 'horrific' campaign of domestic violence

Chloe Holland took her own life on February 1, 2023 after a year’s worth of coercive and controlling behaviour from her partner.

Marc Masterton - described by police as ‘pure evil’ - has been jailed for 41 months for the coercive and controlling behaviour following the abuse which took place from January 1, 2022, until February 1, 2023.

During the relationship, Chloe endured ‘appalling’ forms of abuse all over the country and physical attacks took place in hotels, hostels and public transport on numerous occasions.

The perpetrator isolated her from her family and friends so that she felt completely alone. He also told her to take her own life.

FOR MORE READ: 'Pure evil' man jailed after campaign of coercive and controlling behaviour

Chloe’s mother, Sharon Holland, said: “She said she was terrified, absolutely terrified. It is just horrendous to think that she went through all that time. She had no one.”

Sharon took Chloe’s little boy in whilst she was going through a difficult patch and on a couple of occasions she did not turn up to pre-planned meetings with him because she had been assaulted.

During the sentencing hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on October 6, the court heard that he would deliberately give Chloe black eyes to prevent the meetings.

"On a couple of times, she was meant to see her little boy but he had hit her so couldn’t turn up – he had purposefully punched her in the face so she couldn’t see her son,” Sharon explained.

"It was hard, so hard because he used her son against her.”

The court also heard about one incident where she was beaten at a Travelodge whilst her perpetrator said: ‘say goodbye to your son’.

After Chloe took her life, Sharon had to collect her belongings and she found bank statements where there were transactions of payments of 10p at a time and within the transaction were messages from him calling her names.

Sharon said that ‘he was getting to her through her bank’ and that she had ‘never seen anything like that before’.

Sharon said that Chloe felt isolated from everyone that she loved as he had convinced her that she had no one but him.

She said: “We were getting on the best we ever had before Marc, she was seeing her son and then when she got into the relationship with him, she started to change. I noticed when she was with him that it was really up and down and she was saying ‘my family isn’t there for me, my friends aren’t there for me’ – He convinced her that all she had was him.

“When she was in a good place, she was really happy, loving, very polite and energetic. She was a ray of sunshine and such a beautiful girl, naturally beautiful.

Chloe made the brave decision to seek help two weeks before she took her life and Sharon is continuing that bravery by wanting to step forward and raise awareness for families who are going through similar situations.

She said: “Reach out to your daughter or son, as this happens to men as well. If you have suspicions that something is going on, reach out to them. Be patient with them because once they are strong enough, they will leave and come forward but it is getting them to that stage.

"We want massive awareness where this is concerned because I have never heard about this type of thing until now and I don’t want other families to go through this.

"We were always there for her, always. We might have got annoyed sometimes like families do but we were always there for her. We always loved her and if we knew the full extent we would have been there even more.

"I am looking to set up a charity for families like ours because there is nothing out there – I am going to try and set that up so there is something for us and other families to come to.

"I think children need educating so they can see if it is happening in their home because sometimes things become the norm so they wouldn’t always know that these things are wrong.”

The mum of four also commended the police who helped Chloe and ‘work hard’ to support domestic violence victims to ensure that they are supported when coming forward.

She said that Police Staff Investigator Nikki Brogan and team ‘have been fantastic’, as were the ICU team at the hospital who looked after Chloe in her final days.

Sharon added: "I have been very lucky to get some form of justice but there are other families out there that haven’t.

“She is my daughter and I am going to fight for her as long as it takes me. I am a fighter, I will keep going as far as I can with this to get some change.

Police Staff Investigator Nikki Brogan, added: “This is one of the most appalling and heart-breaking cases of domestic abuse I have ever come across.

“The violence, control and psychological abuse suffered by this poor young woman absolutely destroyed her life. She felt there was no escape from her abuser. Her family said that during the times she was away from Masterton she seemed positive, but when he drew her back into his web of abuse she simply disappeared – becoming withdrawn and unable to eat.

"This man is pure evil. What he did was utterly unforgivable, and the judge remarked that he is clearly a danger to women before sending him to prison.

“Sadly, the victim in this case was unable to see justice served, but I want it to be known that she was so brave, and it was because of her evidence, her strength, her courage that this despicable man is now behind bars.”

If you are a victim or domestic violence and are looking for a place to seek support, visit Stop Domestic Abuse’s website. Click here for more information.

If you want to get in touch with the police regarding domestic violence, click here.