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My mum tried to kill me twice as a child – my life only got worse after & a cruel rule stopped me seeking justice
MONICA Allan’s earliest memory, aged five, was of her own mother holding her head under running water, until she choked.
The little girl grew up with a phobia of water, without really understanding why.
It was not until later in life that Monica learned her mother had tried to kill her – not once, but twice.
Monica endured a miserable childhood in foster care, where she was abused mentally, physically and sexually.
But against the odds she survived to become a loving mother herself.
Yet the abuse played on her mind, and when Monica saw a solicitor, she was informed that she was not entitled to compensation because of an ancient rule.
Determined to change the law for herself, and for thousands of others, Monica launched a legal challenge which was ultimately successful.
Monica, 56, from East Kilbride, says: “For so long, I thought the abuse was normal.
“As a child, I thought I’d done something wrong and that was why people were being so mean to me.
“It’s only now, with the court victory, that I feel vindicated. I have a voice at last.
“The court decision means that hundreds, even thousands, of others can now come forward and claim.
“It’s about more than money, it’s about being believed.”
Monica’s mother, Betty, was an alcoholic who had a turbulent relationship with Monica’s dad, Charlie.
Monica was often left to fend for herself, going without proper meals, and relying on visits from her maternal grandmother to bring shopping and tidy the flat in East Kilbride where the family lived.
Monica says: “It was all I had ever known, and so I just got on with it.
“My parents had violent rows, there was one night where they put a pane of glass through.
“But we had happy times too, I loved watching my Mum put on her make-up and do her hair. It was my job to spray the hairspray.
“My Dad was a singer and I loved sitting on his knee whilst he sang to us all.”
When Monica was five, the family went to visit friends for the evening. Whilst they were there, Betty tried to strangle her daughter under the bath taps.
Monica says: “My mother took me to the bathroom to use the loo but instead she closed the door, switched on the bath taps, and dragged my head underneath the water.
“She was squeezing my neck and I was gasping for breath and choking on the water, I thought I was dying.”
In 1976, Mount was charged with attempted murder and jailed. She had earlier tried to kill Monica as a baby also.
Taking nothing more than a baby’s bottle, Monica was moved to emergency foster care where she remained for the rest of her childhood.
I struggled with the idea that neither my real family liked or loved me. I blamed myself.
Monica Allan
But her ordeal simply grew worse and she suffered severe physical and sexual abuse.
Her new parents ran a brutal regime. To the outside world, the family was devoutly religious and respectable, but behind closed doors, Monica was physically and sexually abused.
Monica says: “The first thing they did when I arrived was throw my bottle in the bin – it was my only link with home.
“They were so cruel to me.
“I wore second hand clothes, my shoes were several sizes too big, and I had nothing of my own.
“My foster father doled out vicious beatings if I didn’t finish my meals. I was sick so much of the time because I wasn’t used to solid food, and he’d beat me for being sick.
“I really missed my mother and my grandmother and I used to beg to be allowed to go home.”
Monica was sexually abused by her foster sibling but kept quiet, fearing nobody would take her side.
She says: “By now, I had lost all sense of myself. I thought I didn’t matter.
“I struggled with the idea that neither my real family or my foster family liked or loved me. I blamed myself.”
WHAT IS THE SAME ROOF RULE?
THE so-called ‘same roof’ rule, blocked victims of violent crime from receiving compensation if the attacker was a family member they were living with at the time of the incident.
It was amended in 1979 to not prevent future victims accessing compensation but as it was not made retrospectively, some victims of crimes which occurred before the law change missed out on compensation.
The reasons for the rule was because of difficulties with evidence in such cases, and a wish to ensure that offenders did not benefit from compensation paid to the victim who they were living with.
The rule applies to all victims of abuse inflicted by a family member living under the same roof – including physical as well as sexual abuse.
Last year, the Court of Appeal decided that the ‘same-roof’ rule had unfairly denied a claimant who was abused by her stepfather the right to compensation.
Ministers then vowed to remove the rule as part of the Government’s Victims Strategy launched last year.
On Thursday, the legislation was scrapped by the Ministry of Justice – meaning victims will now have two years to apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) for compensation.
Victims will be provided with a dedicated team offering support and will have a named contract to ensure they do not have to repeat their traumatic experiences to multiple people.
Those applying or reapplying for compensation will have to meet the Scheme’s other eligibility criteria to be made an award
Alone in the world, Monica moved into her own home aged 17 and went on to have four children.
Monica dearly loved her children and worked hard to provide a stable home, but battled constantly with demons from her past.
Her parents passed away and she carried her dark secrets around for 40 years until in 2010, haunted by her trauma, she finally decided to seek justice.
She says: “I tried to piece things together from my past and it was only when I got my social services records that I discovered my mother had tried to kill me twice.
“I’d had no idea about the attack as a baby, all those years. I was shell shocked.”
Monica was told she couldn’t claim criminal injuries compensation because of the “same roof” rule.
Under the rule, victims of crimes who lived with their attacker were not eligible for payouts.
The law was changed in 1979 but that didn’t help Monica because in her case, the crime happened before then.
But Monica refused to be stonewalled and in 2019 she finally took the UK Government to the Supreme Court and won a landmark victory, which means she – and thousands of others – can now claim compensation.
She has now been awarded compensation for her ordeal in foster care and is awaiting a settlement in respect of the abuse by her mother.
Glasgow-based law firm Legal Services Agency helped Monica fight her case.
They argued that it was unlawful on human rights grounds for her not to be barred from claiming compensation.
Solicitor Kirsti Nelson said: “The courts have recognised that it is discriminatory to prevent people from claiming compensation because of the same roof rule.
“The Government still needs to amend the Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme to allow other victims to claim, but in the meantime, Monica is going to be able to progress her claim.”
Monica says: “People won’t have to go through the emotional trauma of being knocked back under the same roof rule.
“I felt the rule was wrong. I found it quite offensive. My right was taken away and I found that distressing and upsetting.
“I am over the moon to be part of that decision.”
Monica’s book, Abandoned, tells the story of her battle, and is available to buy from Amazon.
I accidentally started a business at 14 when I was saving for a car – then it ‘blew up’ & I was a millionaire by 28
BUYING a first car is an expense most teenagers can’t afford but Bella Weem was determined to find the cash one way or another.
Now 28, she finds herself running an online company she originally set up with the end goal of earning £1,500.
Speaking to Heidi Somers on her podcast, Bella explained how she “kind of started [the business] by accident” at the age of 14.
The CEO of Origami Owl, a jewellery company, revealed that she had wanted to buy a used car online when her parents set her the challenge of earning the cash herself.
“I saved up £270 of my babysitting money and I asked my parents if they could match me so I could start a business,” she recalled.
With the end goal of buying the used car, neither Bella nor her parents thought the company would still be going 14 years later.
Bella said she feels forever “blessed and grateful” for the start-up capital that soon expanded into a successful business.
The business in question is an online jewellery store, where customers can order custom pieces.
“It just morphed into something that I could have never even imagined,” she said.
“My business kind of blew up, I could use the analogy it was like a bowling ball rolling down a hill and I couldn’t catch it just because things were selling out.”
Despite it’s wide-reaching success, the origin of Origami Owl wasn’t without it’s challenges.
Bella recalled the initial difficulty she had balancing her school work with the snow-balling business.
“Here I am, trying to balance school and a business and all of a sudden there’s just all these eyes on my business,” she said.
“I was just thinking ‘What’s going on?’”
She recalled how her initial base at a mall kiosk generated interest in her local community.
At first, the demand was manageable but a savvy business move saw the company really take off.
“I made the mistake of, at our mall kiosk, every locket that was sold I would put my personal business card in the bag,” she explained.
“So this was around the holiday season so everybody is coming to the mall building lockets for their loved ones and then shipping them all over the country.
Do I need to pay tax on my side hustle income?
MANY people feeling strapped for cash are boosting their bank balance with a side hustle.
The good news is, there are plenty of simple ways to earn some additional income – but you need to know the rules.
When you’re employed the company you work for takes the tax from your earnings and pays HMRC so you don’t have to.
But anyone earning extra cash, for example from selling things online or dog walking, may have to do it themselves.
Stephen Moor, head of employment at law firm Ashfords, said: “Caution should be taken if you’re earning an additional income, as this is likely to be taxable.
“The side hustle could be treated as taxable trading income, which can include providing services or selling products.”
You can make a gross income of up to £1,000 a year tax-free via the trading allowance, but over this and you’ll usually need to pay tax.
Stephen added: “You need to register for a self-assessment at HMRC to ensure you are paying the correct amount of tax.
“The applicable tax bands and the amount of tax you need to pay will depend on your income.”
If you fail to file a tax return you could end up with a surprise bill from HMRC later on asking you to pay the tax you owe – plus extra fees on top.
“And so all of a sudden, I’m in school, I’m sitting there doing my test and my phone is just getting blown up and I’m realising it’s numbers from around the country.”
The calls were coming in from people who had received the lockets for the holidays and wanted to purchase more as their own gifts.
Bella recalled asking to be excused from classes to take business calls in the school bathroom.
“I would answer as if I was a professional business owner because I have a business, I have to be professional,” she said.
She explained that she often had to take orders by writing them on her arm.
“I would get home and I’d be like ‘Mum, [we need] to fill this order’ and I’d just hope it didn’t rub off,” Bella said.
“I remember actually one distinct moment as I was taking a business call in the bathroom someone flushed the toilet and I was like ‘Oh just ignore that, anyway, what can I do for you?’”
She described her original business model as “scrappy” as she tried to spread her business.
“It was like ‘What can I do to just get these lockets everywhere?'” Bella said.
She recalled the time at the beginning of her business as “wild,” saying she “just can’t believe that happened.”
“Another thing I look back on is it doesn’t matter how old or how young you are, you can do anything you set your mind to,” she said.
“I remember a lot of people in the beginning [were skeptical] about a 14-year-old.
“I was just so optimistic, I was like ‘I can start a business, why not?’”
She encouraged podcast listeners to “just do it” now if they have a goal they want to achieve.
“A lot of people wait to go after there dreams but there’s never a bad time to start,” Bella said.
Now married with a one-year-old daughter, she said she looks back gratefully on the “crazy adventure” that led her to her life now.
I was so shocked I still had a six-pack when I was five months pregnant with Kyle Walker’s baby, says Lauryn Goodman
LAURYN Goodman has revealed all on what her first pregnancy was like with Kyle Walker.
The 33-year-old has two children, a son and daughter with the footballer rose to fame when her younger sister Chloe featured in MTV‘s Ex On The Beach.
Now she’s become a household name herself after her affair with Kyle Walker was exposed and recently appearing on Celebs Go Dating.
Lauryn remained tight-lipped about the father of her children for years, her first being born in 2020, it soon came out that it was in fact Kyle Walker who had four children with his now-wife Annie Kilner.
Speaking on the podcast Nappy Days, Lauryn revealed that when she was pregnant with Kairo, now four, she still had a six-pack.
She was stunned when she found out she was pregnant after getting a routine scan to check on a benign tumour in her kidneys when told her congratulations.
Stunned, Lauryn asked if the tumour had disappeared but they revealed she was five months pregnant.
Lauryn had no idea about her pregnancy claiming she still had a six-pack at the time.
“I was pretty flat, my tummy was literally like a six-pack,” she explained.
The now mum-of-two also explained that she didn’t notice any symptoms at the time but now can see a few such as not being hungry and feeling sick.
But she never thought they were as she had been told by doctors numerous times that she wouldn’t conceive naturally because of her endometriosis.
The condition is where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb (uterus) grow in other parts of the body.
Endometriosis usually grows in areas around the womb, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. It can also affect organs such as the bladder and bowel.
Symptoms happen when patches of endometriosis break down and bleed during your period but cannot leave your body.
These also include severe and heavy periods and can lead to fertility problems.
Lauryn revealed she cried for days after finding out because of the shock and situation surrounding the pregnancy.
Kyle Walker's sit-down interview with The Sun
By Paul Sims
ENGLAND ace Kyle Walker admitted in January he made “idiot choices and idiot decisions” over his secret child and bitterly regrets betraying soulmate wife Annie.
In a sit-down interview with The Sun, this is what he said.
“What I’ve done is horrible and I take full responsibility.
“I made idiot choices and idiot decisions. I can’t begin to think or imagine what Annie is going through. I’ve tried to ask her but there’s pain and hurt.
“The man that’s meant to love, care and be there for her, did this.
“There have been days in this ordeal where I’ve just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep.
“The only person to blame is me. I have roles and responsibilities that I’m aware of and I’ve made stupid choices. But I need to own up to my mistakes — I owe it to everyone.
“My actions have caused a lot of pain to a lot of people. I’m sorry because, as a family, this isn’t meant to happen.
“I am a private man but I accept that I am a public figure and I need to address what I’ve done.
“It hasn’t helped that it has been played out in the media. But I’ve chosen to speak now in the hope that I can at least explain myself and enable my wife and children to have the privacy they so desperately need and deserve.
“When I met Annie at 17, I never envisaged my private life being like this. I never thought I would be a father of six.
“In football I’ve achieved more than what I ever thought I would achieve. But to personally hurt what I truly believe is my best friend, that’s what hurts a lot.
“How could I hurt someone I love so much? That’s something I need to find in myself.
“I need to find out why I have done this and why situations have occurred. I am human and I’ve made mistakes on and off the field.
“The ones off the field are definitely more damaging and have been more hurtful to me.
“Football has been my life since I was six but my family comes before anything on this planet. At the moment, they’re hurting enormously.
“My little boy goes to sleep with me every night and to not have him . . . I’m used to being away for long periods of time with England.
“We say goodnight on FaceTime. But to know that I’m not with him because of my mistake — mistake is probably the wrong word, my choices — that’s what pains me.”
She and Kyle had been friends for years when the pair decided to go further after he briefly split form his long-term partner Annie Kilner.
During that time Lauryn ended up pregnant but Kyle and Annie reconciled and got back together.
In 2023 it was announced Lauryn was pregnant again and on Boxing Day she told Annie Kyle was indeed her second child’s dad.
The Man City ace, who fathered two love children, son Kairo and daughter Kinara with Lauryn, has been holed up in an apartment after being booted out of his £3million Cheshire mansion.
Kyle moved into the property, owned by the Premier League Champions after Annie Kilner, who he shares four sons with, blocked his return home.
A source said: “He’s been staying at the club-owned apartments because he’s got nowhere else to go.
“He thought Annie would have him back after they shared family holidays, but she wouldn’t agree to it.
“He wanted to move some of his stuff back in but she blocked that, too. They’re still trying to work things through.”
It came after Lauryn sent a bombshell message to Annie on Boxing Day revealing Kyle fathered her second child.
Annie was pregnant with her and Kyle’s fourth child, Rezon, when she kicked him out but it’s thought the pair are working on their relationship.
Lauryn has also been locked in a year long feud with her sister Chloe Goodman and was even excluded from her wedding to footballer Grant Hall last year.
It is thought that the once close sisters became estranged over the revelation that Kyle had also fathered Lauryn’s second child, who was born in 2023, while he was still married to Annie.