Mother whose daughter, 23, took her own life to escape abusive ex-boyfriend calls for ‘pathetic’ domestic violence laws to be toughened – as it’s revealed he terrorised another victim

A grieving mother whose daughter killed herself to escape her abusive ex-boyfriend has called for changes to the education system and tougher laws against domestic abuse.

Sharon Holland’s calls came after it emerged that 26-year-old Marc Masterton, who was jailed, had also terrorized another ex-girlfriend of his.

Mrs Holland, 51, told how 23-year-old daughter Chloe killed herself after being tormented by her ex-partner Masterton for a year.

She now wants a separate charge of manslaughter by coercive supervision for perpetrators whose victims commit suicide as a result of domestic violence.

She also believes that lessons about coercive and controlling behavior should be taught in schools so that “every child” can recognize the dangers.

Masterton was already serving a 45-month prison sentence for abusing Chloe, but last week he was jailed for a further 43 months for assaulting Zoe Castle.

Zoe, 24, was in a relationship with Masterton before Chloe, but it was only after Chloe’s death in March last year that she felt the strength to report him to the police.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard Zoe, who was just 18 when she was at Masterton, was subjected to a similar series of ‘despicable’ psychological and physical attacks as Chloe.

Miss Holland, from Portsmouth, has launched a campaign called ‘Her Name Was Chloe Holland’ in memory of her daughter.

Commenting on the latest conviction, she said: ‘I’m very happy he has more time.

“I’m even happier that it’s being done sequentially and not simultaneously because that was a huge concern.

‘It’s clearly still not enough time – it will never be enough time for what he did to Zoe and my daughter.

“I’m glad Zoe got justice, but for what he did it’s not enough. He killed my daughter – not physically, but mentally what he did to her should be murder.

‘I’m just glad Zoe is still here, but it’s going to take so long for her to get over the trauma.

“I am very grateful to her for coming forward because it will help the campaign.”

Masterton controlled Chloe’s appearance, placed a tracking device on her phone, isolated her from her friends and family and encouraged her to commit suicide.

On one occasion Masterton attacked Chloe with a barbell before handing her a knife and ordering her to hurt herself.

Masterton subjected Zoe to similar abuse and also strangled her, locked her in freezing baths and forced her to get a tattoo of his name.

Miss Holland said her campaign group now plans to write an open letter to the Government to use the Criminal Justice Bill to toughen penalties.

Under current UK law, the most serious perpetrators of coercive control can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

By comparison, Queensland in Australia recently passed laws to criminalize coercive control and impose a maximum penalty of fourteen years’ imprisonment.

Reflecting on the difference between the two systems, Miss Holland said: ‘I think it’s disgusting – I think it’s a pathetic punishment because of the psychological damage it causes.’

Miss Holland pointed out that because Masterton’s 45-month sentence after abusing her daughter included four months for aggravated vehicle seizure, his sentence for coercive behavior towards Chloe was only 41 months.

“If you look, he got more time for Zoe than he did for my daughter – and she died,” she said.

‘He still hasn’t reached the maximum. He will continue because I do not believe he can be reformed.”

Miss Holland said she had met Victims and Protection Minister Laura Farris and urged her to change the legislation.

“I told her that if anything happens to another girl, it’s your responsibility,” she continued.

‘He will kill someone, I am convinced of that. He already did that, he did that to my daughter.’

Miss Holland said she was concerned that existing laws were not doing enough to protect vulnerable women and men trapped in abusive relationships.

When asked if she was concerned about women across the country, she said: “Very much.

‘I can’t help the survivors, it’s already happened – now my mission is to prevent it from happening to other people.

“I want it to be taught in schools. I want every child to know what coercive and controlling behavior means.

“I want everyone to do their job, sing the same song and do what they can to prevent this.”

Of her continued grief for her daughter, she said: “The pain is still just as bad, it doesn’t go away – it never will go away.

‘Something positive has to come out of this grief over the loss of my girl – perhaps ‘Chloe’s Law’ should be introduced so no one will forget what happened.”

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