AS she wrapped her football-mad son’s presents for his 10th birthday, Paris Shears couldn’t wait to see his reaction to the new kits.
But when she pulled out a Chelsea shirt to show it to her Manchester United supporting partner, Robert Lee Hastings, 30, she couldn’t have anticipated the violent response.

Paris Shears was violently attacked after buying a football strip for her son’s birthday Credit: SWNS

The mum-of-three from Southampton was left fearing for her life after Robert Lee Hastings started choking her Credit: SWNS
Within moments of being shown the strip, Hastings threw Paris, 30, against the wall, strangling her.
When he finally let go, she fell to the floor before running downstairs after him, fearing he might hurt the children.
Mum-of-three Paris, from Southampton, said: “I made the mistake of showing him the Chelsea kit first.
“He threw me up against the wall, and started choking me and shaking my neck.

“I started to lose consciousness.
“In that moment when my vision started to go black, I accepted that I was going to die.
“I went from panicking to accepting that this was how I was going to go.”
When Lee loosened his grip, Paris was able to run downstairs, where her two children were.

“I needed to make sure that he wasn’t going to hurt my kids,” she said.
But it was not the first time that she had been violently attacked by her partner.
Paris met Hastings, who introduced himself as Bobby Brown, online in August 2022.
The pair hit it off straight away, with Paris describing Hastings as listening to her, and being affectionate – something she hadn’t experienced before in a relationship.

She quickly fell pregnant with their first child in January 2023.
“It was great to start with, if I am being honest,” said Paris.
“He listened, he was attractive, he was very affectionate.
“I had a child with him, I had fallen pregnant with him quickly.
“After my first two children, I was told that I might never fall pregnant again. For me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to happen.”
Paris said the first time Hastings was violent with her was in December 2022, when the couple were lying in bed, and he was playing video games.

She called him out on a comment he made, prompting a devastating reaction.
“I was working from home on the bed, while he was playing video games,” Paris said.
“He turned towards me, grabbed my hair and yanked it to the side before slapping me across the face.
“He ended up picking me up by my throat and throwing me back down on the bed.
“That was the first time he was violent with me.”
Paris claims the abuse was constant after that. On one occasion, their cat knocked his TV off the counter, which prompted an angry outburst.
She said: “He burst into a huge fit of rage, saying he was going to kill the cat.
“I stood in the doorway, and he pushed me into the bannister. 
“He held me over the bannister. He said he was going to kill the cat and me.”
He also became controlling and wouldn’t even allow her to take photographs of them as a couple.

“There are no pictures of us together because pictures were never allowed,” she said.
“I knew not to question his choices, having an opinion or asking for something he had already said no to always had consequences.
“He was always by my side, whenever someone asked me about safety or safeguarding, he was always in earshot.”
Nearly a year later, in November 2023, Paris bought the two football shirts for her son’s birthday – a Chelsea kit, as she was an avid supporter of the team, and a Manchester United shirt, Hastings’ team.

Paris is calling for a change in the law to remove sentence reductions for late guilty pleas Credit: SWNS

The 30-year-old now fears leaving the house following the harrowing attack Credit: SWNS
It was on seeing the Chelsea top that Hastings flew into his fit of rage, strangling her.
Paris said it took another 12 months of torment before she had the courage to call the police. In September 2024, on their son’s first birthday, Hastings was arrested and charged with intentional strangulation and battery.
During the first day of the trial on March 9, 2026, Hastings changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.
He was convicted of intentional strangulation and assault by beating, and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months and a five-year restraining order, on April 14, 2026.

Two offences, including engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, and one count of intentional strangulation, were left on file.
When an offence is kept on file, it means a court has paused or suspended the charge, but it remains legally active and could be reactivated at a later date.
Paris said: “I didn’t sleep the night before he was sentenced.
“I was a bag of nerves waiting for the news.
“When I got the call to say he received a suspended sentence, it took the wind out of me.
“I felt like I had come forward for nothing.
“It was disheartening. I don’t feel like justice has been served.”
Since Hastings received a suspended sentence, Paris said the impact on her life has been “substantial”.
She has experienced extreme insomnia and lost over nine stone due to stress, barely leaving the house because of the fear of running into him.
“Knowing he is out there, living his life is upsetting to me,” Paris said.

“He has escaped prison, but I have been sentenced to being a prisoner in my own home. I have developed complex PTSD, severe anxiety, and experience extreme panic attacks.
“I am isolated to an extreme degree — most days I cannot even go to my local shop and rely heavily on having everything delivered.
“I am terrified 24 hours a day. I am constantly looking for danger and assessing situations. I always feel under threat and have lived in survival mode for a very long time”
Physically, her health has also suffered as a result of the strangulation.
She said: “I have struggled to swallow and frequently choke on food. I am no longer able to eat the foods I once enjoyed, and I also have difficulty swallowing tablets.
“My GP has referred me for further medical investigations due to the possibility of long-term damage.
“I have visibly aged significantly over the past year and have lost over half my body weight. I have also experienced serious gastrointestinal issues due to stress.”
Paris also lost her job due to the stress.
“The loss of my employment placed me under significant financial strain,” she said. “But I was not in a capable state to work.”
Paris is trying to move on from the incident, but even two years later, life is still a struggle.

“Although this relationship ended in April 2024, the trauma did not end there,” she said. “It continues to control and impact my life every single day.
“The course of my life has been profoundly changed as a result of this relationship.
“The damage is deep and lasting, and while I hope to heal oneday, this experience has changed everything about me.”
She has now launched a petition calling on the Government to remove sentence reductions for late guilty pleas.
She added: “I am not just doing this for me.
“I am using my voice that he tried to silence.
“I am doing this to stand up for myself, past, current and future victims.”