(Collage created by the blog author. Picture credits: centre picture: BBC News. All other pictures are: Tina Nash. Picture credits: The Telegraph, Daily Record)
*Please be aware that the details shared in this post are very disturbing. I will be talking about domestic violence. I will, as always try to be as sensitive with the details of the case as much as I can but the details here are very horrific so I understand if you want to skip this post. Any questions or enquiries, please don't hesitate to email me or use the contact form below*
Getting into a new relationship with someone is often a time of excitement, wonderment and a lot of new experiences together. It's the typical time of the butterflies in the stomach, the late night phone calls and endless hours of time alone in the bedroom together. And that's what it was like for Tina Nash (in the beginning), a beautiful, petite blonde single mother who had just met a big hulk of a guy, Shane Jenkin, in a nightclub one night in August of 2009 when she decided to have a girl's night out with her sister.
Tina, who lived in a lovely part of England called Penzance wasn't particularly looking to meet anybody that night but Shane came across as really sweet, a gentleman and although quite a big guy, he was like a teddy bear. It wasn't the first time that Tina and her sister had met Shane, they briefly met some years before and she'd seen him around but knew nothing about him. They shared some drinks that night and decided to meet up again and grew close very quickly. Tina loved the fact that Shane got on great with her children and didn't care about the fact that she was a single parent of two children, her oldest was 13 and the youngest was coming up for 3 years old.
It seemed like Shane couldn't do enough for Tina, he came across as very protective of her and whenever they went out to see a movie or spend the day somewhere, he insisted on paying for everything. It all seemed too good to be true and it was no surprise that Tina began to fall head over heels in love with him. They would spend hours talking about everything and anything, Tina opened up a lot about her life and personal things that had happened to her, she also shared her insecurities, worries and self-doubts, she lay her heart out because she felt that she could.
(Tina Nash. Picture credit: Cornwall Live)
But as you've probably guessed, this is how these situations usually play out with controlling narcissists. They start off being the perfect boyfriend or girlfriend, showering you with attention, love, gifts and compliments, they gain your trust, find out your weaknesses and then when they feel that the moment is right, they take the mask off and the controlling and abusive behaviour begins. Anyone can fall victim to this, some people like to judge and declare that they would do this or do that but unfortunately in life, we don't have a crystal ball or the ability to see into the future in regards to someone's intentions for us, it's easy to fall into a trap when you fall in love with someone you think you can trust.
Shane knew that Tina was already vulnerable because she was trying to make ends meet whilst raising two children by herself, she'd also opened up to him about a few personal issues and that's no fault of Tina's, she is by nature a very open person and doesn't put on a pretence unfortunately Shane was, every time he opened his mouth it was most probably a lie. So whilst Tina was sharing her hopes, dreams and talking about past regrets with Shane, he was being very cagey about his past, mentioning bits and pieces here and there but it was Tina who was mostly talking and she saw this as him simply being the perfect guy, listening to her and being supportive whereas we now know that he was looking for ammunition that he could exploit and use against her when he needed to.
He kept the knight in shining armour act up for only four or five months. They say that with new relationships, it's usually by six months when you've got to that point where you sort of know where the relationship is heading. In the early days, Tina did notice that he was over-protective of her or she saw it that way, he was easily jealous of other men and always needed to know where she was. She first recalled trouble when it was their first New Year celebration together, they went to a party and afterwards they had a disagreement over something and Shane went berserk, spitting in her face and calling her every name under the sun. He also smashed up some of her belongings when they got back to the house. The incident shook her up and serious doubts crept in that all was not as it seemed. He apologised and promised that it would never happened again, Tina told herself it was maybe stress of things and too much to drink.
Details about Shane's past began to emerge including that he had spent some time in prison for assaulting a man and leaving him brain damaged. He told Tina that it wasn't him, that he had taken the blame for his friend who he feared wouldn't be able to handle prison like he could. Other details were revealed showing a very violent past which also included run-ins with the law and the assault of a police officer whilst being arrested for assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
He tried to convince Tina that he was a changed man but his behaviour had shown her different. The incident at New Year was not a one off, it became a regular occurrence and the smashing up of her property was a regular thing too. Each time that this happened he would say his sorry speech and promise that it wouldn't happen again but like a lot of narcissistic abusers, he would loosely apologise with a twist. instead of begging forgiveness and admitting that he was 100% at fault, he would say ''I'm sorry I got angry....but you shouldn't have done this or said that. if you had done or said what I told you to do then this wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't have gotten angry.'' So this always results in the victim apologising to the abuser after being gaslight into believing that they are in the wrong and the abuser is in the right. It's a terrible cycle and it is very much about brainwashing, the victim is indeed brainwashed and will even repeat to themselves and to anyone who tries to step in and help ''It's my fault, I made him or her angry, I should have made the dinner the way the liked it.'' etc, etc.
In severe cases, which is what this one was, the victim will also cover up for the abuser and turn against anyone who tries to intervene, cutting off friends and family. The abuser will also convince them to cut off their family or force them to choose between the two. It's all about isolating the victim so that they can't escape the control of the abuser. This is a very difficult situation to explain to people who have never been though narcissistic abuse but like I said before, it is an easy trap to fall into.
I ventured off there but back to this disturbing story, so now Shane's behaviour was in full swing and his past was now known to Tina, she was in a trapped situation and the heated rows, the spitting at her, the smashing up of her belongings had now escalated to full on physical violence. Tina even remembers the actual date of when the first beating occurred, she ended up in hospital and he was arrested.
They were apart for five weeks, he didn't spend any time in prison for the assault on Tina because she lied on his behalf and he was able to walk free. He was soon back on her doorstep putting on the usual sorry routine. Tina allowed him in to the house under the original idea that they would just sit and talk but she soon fell under his spell again, he knew the right things to say and the right buttons to push and he ended up spending the night there. She said later that on that particular night, she remembers him laying in bed asleep beside her and she was crying because she was angry with herself for taking him back in again and falling for the usual lines. He was so sweet to her when he first showed up and acted like he cared and missed her but she knew that as soon as they slept together, he had that look in his eye again of ''got her.'' She was frustrated because she was angry with herself for not being able to get out of the situation. She was too much under his spell, he knew too much personal stuff about her, he knew what to say and how to say it. They were back together again and for a short while things were ok but that didn't last, everything seemed more worse than before.
No matter what Tina did, abuse would follow, she did everything she could to make him happy but nothing was ever good enough for him. He would fly off the handle at the least little thing and on more than one occasion she had woken up to him cutting at her with a knife. He would lay next to her and drag a knife across areas of her skin. As well as everything else that was wrong with him, he seemed to have a thing about causing harm to people, torturing them, inflicting some sort of pain. The abuse and verbal insults towards Tina became an every day routine and she had gotten used to it. Sometimes she did attempt to answer back but she soon regretted that, he would physically assault her and the only thing that would make him stop hitting her would be her having to plead with him and say ''Shane I love you, I'm sorry.''
Even though she had done nothing to deserve the harm he was causing her, she would have to apologise to him in order for him to stop. Being of such a high opinion of himself, this would have pleased him greatly having someone, as he saw it, submit to him. So even though he's the one who's in the wrong, having someone beg for his forgiveness and take the blame would have made him feel like he was in control.
The final and most horrendous incident out of everything (and it was all horrible leading up to this point) was 2011 when the final and most horrifying of the beatings took place. Tina had been outside talking to her new neighbours when Shane came out to join in the conversation. During this, Tina went back into the house to quickly use the bathroom. When she left the bathroom she overheard some of the conversation between Shane and the neighbours, she heard Shane trying to either sell or give his prescribed medication to the new neighbours. This was another bridge too far for Tina because if there was one thing that she would never risk, it was her children. Because of the drama that had been going on at the house and the assault on Tina the environment in which the young children were living in had to be monitored so social services were involved for some time and were starting to leave Tina and the children to get on with things. But when she overheard Shane talking, she panicked because if social services found out that Shane had been selling prescription medication to the neighbours, she would probably have the children taken into care.
As she walked down the stairs, she saw Shane come into the house and into the kitchen where he was getting his prescribed medication out of a drawer with the intention of going back out of the house to see the neighbours. Tina tried to stop him and grabbed the tablets out of his hand. He was furious at this and snatched them back.
Having had enough of everything, and having this surge of anger and strength (this was a sign that she was beginning to fight back, that she'd had enough of it all and he knew that the children were Tina's strong point and she would fight for them, she might not fight for herself but she would always fight him for her children and he realised this) she stormed upstairs to the bedroom and got on to the bed. The children were in their rooms at the time.
Shane soon came up the stairs and what was about to happen next was truly and utterly appalling and horrific and another example of why this monster should never be out on the streets again. Tina said that he came in the door she saw a flash of light and the next thing she knew he was repeatedly punching her in the face, breaking her nose and breaking her jaw. She passed out from the repeated blows and was falling in and out of consciousness but could only remember choking and gargling because he had his hands around her throat.
She couldn't see anything, at first it was blurry colours and then blackness, when he finally gave up choking her she tried to sit up totally dazed and trying to function. He was sitting on the bed and said to her ''You're blind, your eyes are hanging out of your head. You're never going to see your kids again.''
In a mixture of shock, pain and confusion, Tina lifted her hand to her face and could feel her eyeball hanging down her cheek, she couldn't see out of either of her eyes. When the realisation hit and the adrenaline at calmed somewhat, the intense pain came rushing through her. Both of her eyes had been gouged out....by his bare bands, all of the horrific injuries he had just inflicted on this poor, innocent and kind woman, was all done by his bare hands. That's not a man, that's a monster. I can think of a million things to call Shane Jenkin but somehow it wouldn't touch the surface to describe how evil he is and what I think of him and others like him.
The thoughts that go through one's mind when trying to picture the scene (though none of us want to) him sat there on the bed whilst this terrified young woman was in horrendous pain, battered, bloody, bruised and both of her eyes pulled out of her beautiful face. Like a scene from the worst horror movie you'd even dare to think of. Beyond gruesome, beyond nightmarish, how do you even explain this level of pure evil and then to sit there and gloat at what he had just done, to sit and tell this woman who was at the lowest point in her life right there, in absolute pain and hell, to tell her that she won't ever see her kids again. I don't even know what to say to that except that my blood is boiling over with anger.
Even in this moment of sheer hell where Tina was convinced he was going to kill her, he'd been trying to strangle her after he gouged out her eyes so it was clear that it was part of his sick plan. All she could think about was her children who were still in the house. She was terrified of what he was going to do next, she was terrified that her children would be next on his list. When he was strangling her the only reason he stopped was because she said the same thing that she always had to do to get him to stop, and that was to apologise and tell him that she loved him.
Being in a horrendous amount of pain, feeling like she was dying, losing a lot of blood and unable to see, she begged him to call an ambulance but he refused. She managed to get out of the bed and feel with her hands a way out of the bedroom to where the stairs were. She slid down the stairs one step at a time, still unable to see and blood pouring out of her horrific injuries. She suddenly felt him lift her up and he carried her to the bathroom where he threw her into a bath full of cold water, the shock made her projectile vomit all over the bathroom floor. He refused to get any medical attention and basically kept her hostage for 12 hours as she agonised in pain and fear wondering what was to come next.
With so much trauma, there were parts that were blocked out but what we do know is that Tina did wake up in a hospital bed, still unable to see anything but hearing unknown voices around her. She realised she was in a hospital but still terrified that Shane was going to come and get her. She was reassured that she was safe and that he wouldn't be getting away with what he had done.
Tina spent weeks in hospital, after surgery and some recuperation, she left hospital with the knowledge that she would never regain her sight. She had to adjust to life now as a blind woman and what broke her heart the most was not being able to see her children but she was grateful that they had not been harmed and that she was still alive to be around her children.
Shane Jenkin never expressed any remorse and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 with a minimum of six years. He was told by a judge at the time that he should expect to spend a very long time behind bars for what he has done to Tina and other victims before her. Shane has been in prison since his sentence but has also spent time in a psychiatric facility. According to Tina, Shane has not been a model prisoner behind bars, he apparently tortured a fellow patient in the psychiatric hospital by holding the man down and inserting pins into his penis. Word soon got out to the press about this but the whole matter seemed to have been swept under the carpet.
More unbelievable is that Tina has been kept pretty much in the dark about what has been happening with Shane Jenkin. She was horrified to discover that he had been moved to an open prison in February of 2025. She was terrified and with good reason because prisoners are often moved to an open prison if they are due to be released or authorities are preparing for them to be released by allowing them on day releases. Day releases involve allowing a prisoner to leave the prison for one day a week to do a course, a job or visit a relative, they have to return to the prison and are on a curfew. If they can do this on a regular basis without incident, they are often tagged, still given a curfew for a certain period of time and allowed to leave prison. Tina is terrified that he will come after her or harm others.
Shane has never shown any remorse for anything he has done to people in his life but all of a sudden now that the possibility of being released is on the cards, he's all of a sudden decided to show some remorse, or what he think's constitutes as remorse. He's been described previously as a narcissistic psychopath and I agree.
Whilst he was locked up, Tina did her best to put the parts of her life back together but she knew no matter how hard she tried, her life was forever changed and the lives of her children were forever changed. She's an incredible woman and has written a book about her ordeal (I've included the links to everything below). There is a Go Fund Me page which I will leave below along with everything else.
What more can I say about this horrible and heartbreaking story other than that he should never be out of prison and should be given a whole life order. Tina is such an incredible woman and I cannot imagine the hell she's gone through and then having to face all of this again, the fear of him being released to come out and possibly harass her or harm someone else. It's clear that this monster is no good to anybody, he's a huge risk, he's pure evil and no amount of time passing or stints in jail is going to change him. His sick brain is wired differently, he enjoys people's suffering, he enjoy's ruining people's lives, he's physically harmed both men and women, nobody is safe from this monster.
(Tina Nash's book is available to buy on Amazon)
I know that Tina has another fight on her hands and we are all behind her, wishing her well and giving her support. Please check out her Go Fund Me page and please sign this petition: Stop Shane Jenkin From Being Released!!
1 in 4 women in the United Kingdom will experience domestic violence in their lifetime, 1 in 6 men in the UK will also experience domestic violence too, in their lifetime. Two women per week in the UK are murdered by their partner or ex-partner. shocking and very frightening statistics. It's important that we recognise the signs, leave the lines of support open and let it be known that we are here for all men and women who find themselves in these very scary and isolating situations.
If you or someone you know is going through a similar situation to Tina's or is in a difficult relationship and recognises signs that things are not right, please don't hesitate to contact these amazing help networks for support. If you are in the UK please check out Woman's Aid, Clares Law, Refuge and ManKind
For the US & elsewhere, please check out: The 24 hour National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE(7233) as well as this list of helplines for each country.
You're also welcome to reach out to me if you need a chat or want advice on anything, drop me a line anytime via my email jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com
Further Reading & Sources;
- As always, check out the incredible site Newspapers.com for articles past and present
Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I know it was very difficult and I appreciate you taking the time and also if you have supported Tina, thank you.
I hope you will join me in the next post. Please take care until next time....x
