My TikTok true crime videos gave me the confidence to report my abusive partner ... trends now
A TikTok true crime video poster and mother has revealed how she helped jail a violent boyfriend she met during lockdown who strangled her and kicked her puppy.
Bekah Smith, 34, started her online channel last May, narrating real-life crime stories for her 54,000 followers - and says making the videos helped her realise how she was being abused by partner Karl Draper.
She grew increasingly concerned after spotting similarities between her situation and the domestic abuse stories she was sharing on TikTok and realised the extent of her treatment by MMA fighter Draper, 23.
Ms Smith says the coercive control began shortly after he moved into her home in Kirkby, Liverpool, in December 2020.
He began to stop her going out, monitored her social media and even kicked her puppy in April 2021 until it 'yelped in pain', she says.
Karl Draper (left) has been jailed for domestically abusing ex-partner Bekah Smith, right
TikTok true crime poster Bekah Smith shared pictures of her injuries with police
Draper, 23, admitted five counts of ABH and one of coercive control at Liverpool Crown Court
The relationship turned physically violent after she fell pregnant in February 2022 when Draper strangled her until she thought she was would have a miscarriage.
He later attacked her shortly after she had given birth in April 2022, causing her C-section scar to burst open.
Posting online eventually gave her the courage to go to the police and she kept videos and recordings of the assaults to show them.
Draper, from Liverpool, pleaded guilty to five counts of ABH and one charge of coercive control at Liverpool Crown Court in February this year.
He was jailed for two years last month and given a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting her.
Content creator Ms Smith said: 'I think my TikTok account saved my life. I always avoided doing domestic violence stories - I think I knew deep down it was because I was in one.
'But making the videos really gave me the confidence to look at my own relationship.'
She met Draper through mutual friends online during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in early December 2020.
The pair exchanged numbers and began texting, before meeting up a few weeks later.
Ms Smith thought he was a 'nice guy' and the relationship progressed quickly as Draper moved into her flat - but she says the 'coercive and controlling' behaviour began soon after they started living together.
Bekah Smith, pictured with her baby, has spoken out about the abuse she suffered
Bekah Smith, pictured with MMA fighter Karl Draper, realised the domestic
