A SURVIVOR of rape and abduction at the hand of a serial predator has made a plea for others to speak out against their abusers.

Debi Brown, from Dunfermline, has waived her right to anonymity in the hope that her story can encourage more people to seek support.

The 53-year-old's ex-partner, Kevin Scott, was given a life sentence last week for his catalogue of crimes against women and children dating back more than 35 years.

"For anyone currently going through a controlling relationship, who think they're losing their mind, reach out for help," she told the Press.

"When you do there's so much out there, there's Women's Aid, there's women's refuge, there's regional rape and sexual assault centres.

"For me, while I was with this monster, I felt sorry for him and I am sure it was the same for everyone else.

"I felt like he had a troubled past and, not that I could fix him, but that he needed to be treated tenderly.

"It wasn't like that at all - he was a monster and he was practiced at being a monster as I now realise."

For Debi, solace was found through the Freedom Programme, an initiative primarily intended for women who have experienced domestic assault.

It provides information for anyone who wishes to access it and aims to help survivors make sense of and understand what has happened to them.

"It was the one thing that taught me everything about what he was about, that there are people like that," Debi explained.

"I'm in my 50s now and have got to that age and didn't realise people like that actually walk around with us."

She had met Scott on a dating website in the summer of 2014, explaining that at the time he was "charming" and "everything I was looking for".

He told her that he was a trained medium and that he shared her interest in all things spiritual, information she now knows he discovered about her on Facebook.

Debi said: "He was very good looking, very charming, and that lasted for a while.

"There were early red flags which I didn't recognise, I pushed them aside as niggles when you first start dating someone.

"Looking back I can see it was all there."

She described how Scott would say "awful things" when drunk, something she excused as alcohol-induced, and that he was "constantly" accusing her of cheating on him.

He had passwords for her emails, Facebook and phone and would even check the mileage on her car after a journey.

Scott also tried to talk Debi out of going anywhere alone, even to see her children.

She continued: "I used to have to take photographs and show him how much shopping I did with my daughter so that he'd know why I was away so long.

"Now I feel stupid, I feel stupid that I didn't see then how controlling that was.

"I grew up always wanting to see the good in people, believing it was there, I was literally making excuses for him.

"It's insidious, they brainwash you to the point that if they tell you the sky is black or pink you end up believing it.

"Your mind gets around the fact that everything they say is right and everything you're saying is wrong."

Debi told how she was "tricked" into moving in with Scott under the guise of supporting his mum.

In the weeks that followed she says he began to rape her monthly.

"Again, I was blaming myself, I was making excuses," she said.

"Afterwards he couldn't do enough for me, he was back to being Mr. Wonderful, It was mind games, it was literally messing with my mind."

Debi left Scott in 2016 with the help of police after he abducted her by locking her in his home and detaining her against her will.

"That was when I panicked and realised I needed help, I genuinely feared for my life at that point," she said.

"I called the police, they came round, he got his parents to come round and he was sitting crying making out he was the victim.

"I was told to pack what I could and go and that was it, I couldn't come back for anything."

She thought officers would follow it up, but they didn't, and she struggled to encourage herself to speak out about the extent of what she had been through because of self-blame.

She explained: "As time went on I was still so confused because of the way he messed with my head so much, I convinced myself nobody would believe me.

"How is it rape if you're in the person's bed?

"The shame of what you've been through, it is so, so hard to even say it to yourself.

"Even the word 'Rape' is banded about, you hear it, but actually to admit to yourself that is what happened.

"For me I couldn't, I tried to bury it, I spent years having nightmares."

In 2021 one of Debi's colleagues was arrested for domestic assault, convincing her finally that it was time to contact police and tell them what she had been through.

"I was going to get an advocate and then the police called me, about Kevin.

"Literally within three weeks of what happened to my colleague.

"It was to say they had him in custody, he had been arrested on serious charges, and was there anything more I wanted to tell them.

"I said yes."

Debi gave her evidence by video link from Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

She says she felt "amazing" and "so strong" during the trial, with a judge commending each of Scott's victims for their "enormous courage".

She now has a "lifeline" group chat with other women who have been through similar experiences, having previously felt unable to tell her friends and family what had happened.

She was also supported, and still is supported, by Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre, an independent voluntary organisation that offers a range of free and confidential anyone over the age of 12 who has been affected by rape and sexual assault.

Her message for other survivors is this: "It's never a waste of time reporting abuse, rape, or controlling behaviour.

"If they can't make a case immediately they will use your report if he or she does it to someone else, that's how they build a case.

"It's never too late and there are so many agencies that will see you through the whole police and court process.

"It's never, ever, your fault, we blame ourselves so badly; 'Why didn't I get out earlier?', 'Why didn't I see it?'"

"They will offer you counselling and help relieve the trauma but you have to reach out.

"If you don't reach out for help with counselling you will continue to suffer the trauma over and over."

Anyone who would like to learn more about the Freedom Programme can do so here: www.freedomprogramme.co.uk.

Anyone impacted by the contents of this article can seek more information via the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 and Scottish Women's Aid on 0800 027 1234.

Fife Women's Aid also provides 24-hour support on 0808 802 5555.

More information about Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre can be found here: www.frasac.org.uk