Woman catches partner's harrowing domestic abuse on cameras she installed to watch her dog

Woman catches partner's harrowing domestic abuse on cameras she installed to watch her dog WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: Liz Shanks, who is from South Lanarkshire, Scotland, captured years of domestic abuse by Chris Forrest and was able to bring her partner to justice A woman caught her monster partner's domestic abuse on the camera she had installed in her home to catch burglars and keep an eye on her pet dog. Liz Shanks, 37, was eventually able to use the chilling CCTV to bring Chris Forrest to justice after she suffered years of violence. The cameras, which had previously been put up for security, captured a series of sickening attacks. The harrowing footage captured on the dog camera in her house shows Liz and Forrest sitting on the sofa when he stands up and gets on top of her, pins her down on the sofa and strangles her. He can be heard screaming, "you are going to die in my f***ing hands you wee cow" as she gasps for breath. Another video, again deemed too distressing for us to publish, Forrest is seen pinning Liz to the ground and throttling her in the driveway of her home. After years of abuse, Liz finally took the recordings to police in 2020. Forrest was jailed for just 27 months in 2022 after he admitted abusing his partner between July 2017 and August 2020. Liz, from Blantyre in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, said: "In 2020, I realised that I was really fighting for my life. I was walking on eggshells with him. I didn't know if I was ever doing the right thing or the wrong thing. "At some point he's going to grab me so hard and choke me so hard I can't breathe, and there'll be nothing I can do about it. Because he was so big and so overpowering, I just couldn't do anything." Liz, who says he served around 13 and a half months, believes the justice system failed her and has since campaigned for changes to the way domestic abuse cases are handled. Liz first met Chris through a friend around 2014, when they were both working as lorry drivers, and he initially appeared welcoming, polite and gentle, she said. She said: "If you were to meet this man in the street, you'd be like, 'Oh, he's a lovely, pleasant, polite, well-mannered man.' He knows his audience. He has that ability to switch. People found it very difficult to believe that he had done what he had done." The pair began a relationship in early 2015, but Liz says controlling behaviour began after she joined the fire service in 2016. She was the only woman on her training course and said Chris tried to persuade her to leave. "He tried to manipulate me to leave the fire service, but it was very subtle," she said. "It was a case of, he almost tried to make me choose between him and my career." The first physical attack of many happened in 2017. Following an argument at home, Liz said Chris came downstairs and grabbed her by the throat. She said: "It caught me by surprise, so I started to cry because I got such a shock, and when I started to cry, he stopped." The attacks continued intermittently over the following years, but the violence became more severe in 2020. During one attack, Liz said Chris ripped the headboard from the bed and threw it across the room before grabbing her and pinning her against a wall. She said he then forced banknotes into her mouth while insulting her. On another occasion, she said he grabbed her neck so tightly that she could barely make a sound. She said: "I went to scream and there was this little squeak that came out. "And that's when I realised that at some point he's going to grab me so hard and choke me so hard I can't breathe and there'll be nothing I can do about it." The CCTV cameras had not been installed to monitor Chris. Liz initially bought a camera to monitor her dog, who she said suffered separation anxiety when she was working. She later installed cameras around her property to protect her older cars from potential burglars. The cameras were visible, and Liz says Chris knew they were there and had access to the security app. But she believes he never expected her to use the recordings against him. Watching the footage herself did not affect her, Liz said. She added: "I think a lot of survivors can relate to this. You kind of normalise what's happened to you. As time went on, I actually normalised all of that abuse. It was all I knew. "You desensitise it. For me, I'm so detached from them, so desensitised to them, normalised by them. A lot of survivors will fall into that trap the longer that abuse goes on." She eventually showed Chris some of the footage in 2020. Liz said he told her what she wanted to hear, including that he recognised he needed help. She said: "I thought, you're going to hurt somebody else all over again. "If he starts dating another woman and she's not that way inclined, she might not stand a chance. I thought he'll end up killing her. I can't live with myself if he goes on to hurt somebody else or kill somebody else. "Because, in all honesty, I believe he was capable - and I still think he is capable - of murdering somebody." But she later became increasingly concerned he could go on to hurt another woman. That became one of the reasons she decided to report him. Liz contacted the police in September 2020, and showed officers the recordings. She said the officers were so shocked by what they saw that they had to sit in their car for several minutes before leaving. The footage gave Liz confidence to report the abuse because she feared otherwise it would become a case of her word against his. She said: "If I hadn't had that CCTV, I would have been worried about my word against his. Because I had the CCTV, I felt very confident that there was absolutely no doubt or qualms as to what had happened." Liz says the footage also means future partners of Forrest can make an informed decision. She said: "I didn't have that opportunity. I didn't know what he was like. He was like a master manipulator." To make a referral to the NCDV call 0800 970 2070 or text: NCDV to 60777. More information can be found here: https://www.ncdv.org.uk/.