Mark is taken into custody after false allegations.

Mark called the Men’s Advice Line the moment he was released from police custody. His wife, Lisa, had made a false allegation. As there was no evidence, the police told Mark that no further action would be taken. When they first got together, things were great. They would spend a lot of time with each other and they eventually moved in together after 9 months.

Abuse begins

During that time Mark noticed that Lisa would find ways to stop him spending time with his family or friends whom he was close to. Mark thought this was a little strange.

Abuse escalates

Three months after moving in together their son Billy was born. Lisa’s was finding it very difficult to cope while Mark was at work. She demanded that he was only to go to work and come home. Lisa also began checking up on him at work and started to become aggressive when he did not respond to her immediately. She would also criticise Mark for not helping her enough and make him feel bad for this. She started to call him a useless father and that he did not care for her or their son. Mark had always tried to calm the situation, but Lisa would make things worse and blame him for how she behaved.

Mark is conflicted

Mark’s family and friends started to notice that he was withdrawn. When Mark’s brother spoke to him about his concerns, Mark would deny this and say things like “Lisa is really stressed” or “I need to help her out a bit more”. Mark knew deep inside that things were not ok, but he could not bear to be without Billy and would not want him to grow up without a father.

Mark gets arrested

On the night he got arrested Mark had planned to go to a friend’s birthday. Lisa was trying to make Mark feel guilty for going. Mark decided that he would still go out. Lisa then lunged towards Mark and hit him on the back of his head and started to attack him more. Mark was trying to get away from Lisa and he held her by the wrists. Lisa blamed him for her actions and said that if he told anyone she would leave and Mark would never see Billy again. Mark went to his parent’s house. Fearing that Mark may end up reporting Lisa, she contacted the police and informed them that Mark had assaulted her. Mark was arrested at his parent’s home then taken into custody.

The Police see the truth

The Police Officers noticed that Mark had significant bruises and realised that he was the one assaulted in this incident. They asked him if he would like to press charges against Lisa, but he declined as he did not want her to get into any trouble. Mark was released with no further action. The police gave Mark the contact details for the Men’s Advice Line so he could get some support.

Mark gets help

The Advisor didn’t try to put pressure on Mark to leave Lisa against his wishes. Instead, explained to Mark that he had options around child contact and it wasn’t up to Lisa to never see Billy again. The Advisor also gave Mark advice on how to remove himself from a situation such as the recent argument. Mark was also given the details of a local domestic abuse service for further support should he need it.

Mark was grateful that there was support for him. He was pleased that someone took the time to listen to him and believed him.