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A woman who waited five years for her ex-boyfriend to be sentenced following a vicious attack has said she has lost faith in the justice system . The victim , who has been asked to remain anonymous, claimed she was beaten and controlled by her former boyfriend. After being left heavily bruised following a violent assault in her flat, an officer was instructed to take a statement from her. Instead, he deemed her story "not credible" and closed the enquiry without notifying an inspector. At the time, having reported the matter, GMP sent apologies to the victim and conceded that the officer failed to take a statement from her, and that he dropped the case without informing a more senior member of staff. This is against GMP policy. Five years on, Michael Mavir, 34, of Manchester, was slapped with a suspended jail term after pleading guilty to an offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, reports Manchester Evening News . Now, the victim has slammed GMP's "poor handling" of her case, adding: "I no longer truth the system." The woman said the pair met in a pub in June 2019. They hit it off and connected on social media which led to a romantic relationship. However, it quickly became clear it was an "infatuation" on his end, she said. "He wouldn’t leave me alone," she explained. "It was so controlling and so intense. I had been on my own for a while and I never had anything like that. I thought it was nice that he wanted to spend time with me." Mavir moved in with her, which is when she discovered that he drug problems. She said he verbally abused her, "bringing her down to the point of tears" and would ask her for money. She claims he was also physically abusive. "It got to the point I was ready to leave him, then I found out he was messaging another girl. I just said: ‘What the f***’, and he put the duvet over his head and kicked out from the front and broke my hand. I was in agony," she said. After the attack, she went on holiday with her parents , and began to find a sense of independence again. "It got to the point I wanted to end it, we were still together at this point," she explained. "On the day I was ready to break it off, I cleaned the apartment and decided to have a glass of wine afterwards. It was a Saturday afternoon and I wanted to have some me-time. "Because I was drinking when he didn’t want me to, he punched me, kicked me, threw things at me, there was an escalation. The police didn’t believe me." She said when the officer came to take a statement from her, he said her story "was not true". "I showed him the picture of the bruises, you can see the sole of his shoe, they stayed on my body for months," she recounted. "I was horrified. I was heartbroken . It got to the point I thought ‘he doesn’t deserve to get away with it’." "He [The officer] was cold and matter of fact," she said. "There was no empathy and I don't expect it because I'm not that kind of person but if someone is telling you that they've just been attacked by their partner I'd expect a little bit of something. "There was just nothing. I was very heavily judged, he was nasty and short with me. "He told me I didn't have enough evidence and that my partner's story matched up." The woman made a formal complaint to Greater Manchester Police about the officer's conduct. In a written response from the force, they said: "Having reviewed this matter in my opinion the level of service you received on this occasion was not acceptable and the complaint is upheld." GMP admitted that force policy for domestic violence had not been followed by the officer in that a victim statement was not obtained. The response stated "this is mandatory and has been advised". The force said the officer had also failed in his duty as a Police Constable cannot make a decision to close an investigation. "As a minimum an inspector must be consulted and in the majority of cases the Crown Prosecution will be the decision maker," they said. This is mandatory and he has been advised." The response stated the officer in question had been told to liaise with the Divisional Victim Services Coordinator to 'refresh' and 'up-skill himself.' Michael Mavir was charged with assault on a person thereby occasioning actual bodily harm. He pleaded guilty to the offence on the day of his trial. On October 2 this year at Minshull Street Crown Court, he was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment suspended for two years. The victim, when speaking about the sentence, said she does not feel like she has got closure. “I felt like I would come out that day and feel this huge weight lift, but it's taken so long to get to this point, I just felt numb. I didn’t feel elated or happy or think ‘thank God it's over’,” she said. “I used to be angry, upset and hurt. After five years, I was numb to it all. “For me this has been about getting heard, I want people out there to know what he has done.” The woman, as a result of what has happened, said she suffered from anxiety and depression, and had to move back home with her parents. She said she has not had a proper relationship since and is very cautious of other people. “I feel like my life has been put on hold for the last five years. It’s affected my friends, my family, I don't think people realise how much it affects them. My mental health was battered,” she said. “I was constantly retraumatised by it. Over the last four or five years I have been constantly retraumatised by the justice system. I don’t know anyone who’s taken five years to get to court.” She described the treatment from the force as ‘poor from start to finish’. “I felt victim shamed and it made me think twice about reporting. I don’t have faith in the police or the justice system. I no longer trust the system.” A spokesperson for GMP said: "We apologise to the victim of this case for what was - as we have previously acknowledged - an unacceptable response from us during the initial investigation. "In this case, correct procedures were not followed, and we took steps to address the issue by providing the officer with enhanced training on victim support and clear guidance on our domestic incident protocols. “We have also strengthened oversight of officers responding to such incidents as part of our commitment to ensuring every victim of domestic abuse is protected, supported, and heard."
