A mum has said she is scared for her life after finding out that the man who gouged her eyes out has been moved to an open prison.
Tina Nash, 44, is now blind after she was attacked by her former partner Shane Jenkin in April 2011.
Jenkin kept Tina, from Cornwall, hostage for 12 hours during the attack in which he also broke her nose, jaw and strangled her. Her two sons were sleeping in the room next door at the time.
Jenkin was handed a life sentence at Truro Crown Court in May 2012 with a minimum term of six years after he admitted grievous bodily harm (GBH). He was later detained in a secure mental health unit.
Jenkin has now been moved to an open prison from March this year, despite six bids for parole rejected according to the Parole Board for England and Wales.
Under open prison conditions, Jenkin will be able to leave the prison on licence for short periods if a family member is ill or if he is taking part in paid or unpaid work.
She said: ‘I’m really scared, because I don’t think he’ll leave it, especially because I’ve spoken out about what he’s done.
‘I think that he has been sitting there this whole entire time kicking himself that he did not finish me off.’
Recalling the night of the attack, she described he attacked her, strangling her before rolling her up in a blanket where she continued to be strangled.
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She said she could not work out what was going on, but at one point felt her ‘eyeball down on my cheek’.
She said: ‘I don’t remember him jumping on me. I don’t remember him beating me. I don’t remember him gouging my eyes out. I don’t remember him rolling me up. He thought I was dead.’
Several operations followed, but doctors were unable to save her eyes and she has since had reconstructive surgery to implant prosthetic eyes.
The former couple were together happily for eight months from August 2009 after the met in a club in Penzance.
But Jenkin, also from Cornwall, eventually turned vicious towards Ms Nash.
In April 2010, Jenkin beat his partner for the first time, leading to ‘nothing but beatings’ and strangulations.
‘It was just constant the police raiding my house… I’ve never felt like on edge before in all my life. I didn’t even know I was a victim.’
She continued: ‘I try every single day to stay positive, but no matter what, it’s still always there, and it’s not going away,’ she said.
‘I dream every single night and it feels like I’ve just lost my sight yesterday.’
The attack ‘completely ruined’ her life and she continues to suffer panic attacks.
She said: ‘I was a free spirit, I loved life, I was a DJ – I loved being out with my friends.
‘All the panic attacks and the anxiety attacks just ruined me as a person.
‘The amount of days and years that I sat downstairs on my own on the edge of the sofa, tortured, shaking, freaking out – he’ll never know what he’s done to me.’
Laura Richards, a criminal behavioural analyst and former head of the Homicide Prevention Unit of the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘I’m extremely concerned about the decision to move Jenkin to an open prison, readying him for release after such a short time and given his appalling and sadistic violent acts to Tina.
‘There is too much weight and focus on Jenkin’s ‘right to freedom’ rather than where it should be, on Tina’s right to life and safety and the safety of the public.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘This was a horrific crime and our thoughts remain with Ms Nash.
‘All prisoners, including those serving life sentences, must pass a robust risk assessment before any move to open conditions and we do not hesitate to move them back to closed prisons if they break the rules.’
A fundraiser for Ms Nash’s security at home has been set up. This can be viewed here.
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