COVER STORY

He loves me… He loves me not

Preventing violence against young women
by Paul Freedman

YOU MAY NEVER HAVE HEARD of the Sophie Elliott Foundation … but you will probably remember the name Sophie Elliott – right?

She was the bright, vivacious 22-year-old who was gruesomely stabbed to death by her former boyfriend and ex-tutor, Clayton Weatherston. It was a trial that had most of us glued to our TV sets back in 2009. And the questions kept haunting us: “How could things get to such a state? And how come there was no warning?”

Sophie’s mum, Lesley Elliott, was the one who opened the door to Weatherston on that fateful day. And, as you can imagine, she has agonised over those very questions ever since. To try to pinpoint some answers, and to help protect other young women from horrific confrontations like this, Lesley has set up the Foundation as a legacy in Sophie’s memory. She’s also written a book – ‘Loves Me Not’ – to help young people know when a relationship they’re in might be unhealthy.

We asked Lesley how she first came in contact with Weatherston. And how the fatal succession of events got started …

Issue 2 2015

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