DV Qld: Victim hit 45 times with baseball bat

A Brisbane woman’s skull and jaw had to be put back together after being struck 45 times with a baseball bat by a man she was trying to escape. WARNING: GRAPHIC

The constant reminders of the day Simone O’Brien was almost killed in a horrific domestic violence attack are written on her face.

Scars remain where her skull and jaw had to be put back together after being struck 45 times with a baseball bat by a man she was trying to escape.

But the Brisbane mother-of-three refuses to let those life-changing minutes define her, and is now rallying for victims to speak up and for early intervention of healthy relationships to start in Prep.

“I want to make change, and I know there are so many people out there who have been through domestic violence who are scared, too,” Ms O’Brien said.

Ms O’Brien was a single mother when she met her attacker, Glenn Cable, on an online dating site and quickly began a relationship in 2012.

But she soon noticed red flags, including contacts in her phone being deleted, and money going missing from her wallet.

“The real clincher that turned my tummy upside-down was when he started sending me flowers to work … every day. It just didn’t sit well with me.”

Simone O'Brien was struck with a baseball bat more than 45 times.

She suffered horrific injuries to her face and head.

Ms O’Brien ended the relationship with Cable after nine months, but when she tried to break up with him he turned up at her Carseldine home and attacked her with a bat.

Ms O’Brien was struck at least 45 times in the side of the face and arm, leaving her in an induced coma and almost dead.

“They thought I was dead at the scene and had to put me in an induced coma at the scene, otherwise I would have died on the way to hospital with the swelling on my brain and blocking my windpipe.”

She spent months in hospital learning to walk, talk, and even cut up her own food again.

Ms O’Brien lost her sense of smell and vision in one eye, and had to have her face and jaw fully reconstructed.

Cable was charged with her attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years’ jail in 2015 after a jury found him guilty of the horrific crime.

Cable is eligible to apply for parole from Monday after serving 80 per cent of his sentence.

Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior – who is advocating for a raft of domestic violence reforms, including strict control orders for parolees – said offenders like Cable should be exposed to strict conditions.

Domestic violence survivor Simone O’Brien. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“Frankly, he should never see the light of day again, but when he is paroled I would like to see him exposed to the strictest of conditions,” Mr Prior said.

“Control orders that will control his movements – he would not be able to go into a nightclub, log onto a dating website, this would give police the ability to go through his phone to see if he’s offending against another female.

“These are the kind of strategies that we need to put in place to control this kind of behaviour.”

Ms O’Brien said she was determined to speak up for the next generation of women and men.

“I want to make a change … if we can get in at a younger age and teach them what’s right and wrong, talk about domestic violence and have it in our school curriculum to make that change.

“Stay positive and keep smiling. Please remember that any little red flag turns into a big red flag.”

Originally published as DV Qld: Victim hit 45 times with baseball bat