Michele Turnbull has spoken of her terrifying experience after being raped twice by her ex-partner David Wilson in her home.
A woman has told about feeling so dirty after being brutally raped by her ex-partner that she bathed in Dettol. Michele Turnbull was left in so much pain after being attacked by David Wilson, 49, that she couldn’t walk for days.
Wilson raped the 41-year-old mother twice in her own home and ignored her desperate pleas for him to stop. She was left traumatised, scared and felt so dirty she could not initially touch her own skin.
Michele resorted to washing herself with the disinfectant in a bid to feel clean again. She found the strength to report him to the police and gave evidence against him during a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Wilson, of Gateshead, denied two charges of rape but was convicted by a jury. Last month, he was sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
Recorder Mark Giuliani told him: “You decided your desires and your needs were more important than her wishes. Afterwards she felt ashamed and dirty, at one point washing herself with Dettol to feel clean again.”
Michele, who lives in Newcastle, has waived her right to anonymity to speak about the case and encourage others, who may have been through a similar experience, to contact the police.
She told Chronicle Live: “He brutally raped me to the point where I couldn’t sit down for three days. The first couple of days I couldn’t touch myself.
“I had a bath and poured a full bottle of Dettol in. It hurt but I just wanted to feel clean again. It didn’t help at all, I knew I was clean but I just felt disgusting. I could smell him on me.
“I hate him for what he’s put me through the last two years. He’s turned my life upside down. I think he’s an absolute disgrace and just a horrible animal. He’s not a man, he’s a beast.”
Michele met Wilson through a mutual friend in June 2023. She said he asked her out for three months before she agreed to go on a date with him in September that year.
They began a relationship but Michele soon tried to distance herself due to his behaviour, which she described as “obsessive”. She said: “I went to Bulgaria on holiday and he stopped in my flat.
“When I was away, he said he was missing me and sent me a picture of my pink fleece blanket rolled up on the bed with one of my bikinis on and my pair of trainers. I thought it was just a joke but when I came back a week later it was still there.
“I thought it was a bit creepy but I brushed it off. He started showering me with unwanted gifts and when I went out with my sister he turned up at the same place. I hadn’t told him where I was.
“He also went around all of my local shops and told everybody that we were together. I tried to tell him verbally to back off but he didn’t listen so I wrote him a letter saying it’s getting too much.
“He was obsessive with me, I was like a trophy. We were together six or seven weeks if that.”
Michele said she decided to invite Wilson around for a drink on November 18, 2023 to see how things went. She said she later went to bed and he followed her into the bedroom.
Michele said: “We hadn’t had any sexual contact for three weeks prior to the rape. He watched the telly and then turned everything off and came to bed. I was half asleep, I was just dozing off.
“He climbed into bed and started to touch me. He climbed on top of me and pinned me down.
“He took my pyjama bottoms off me while I was pinned to the bed. I was telling him ‘no’ and telling him to ‘stop’. He was like an animal.”
Michele said the following morning Wilson made himself a cup of coffee, and had one mouthful of it, before leaving her address. She lay on her sofa for two days before telling her family what had happened.
Her mother, her sister and her brother-in-law encouraged her to report Wilson to the police. She said: “They saw the state I was in. They didn’t want anyone else to have to go through this. I was concerned I might not be believed but I was determined to go and get justice.”
Michele, who had to undergo a forensic medical examination at the Angel Centre in Gateshead, received a message from Wilson two days later which said: “What did I do wrong?”
She told him that he had “forced” himself onto her and he was “like a f****** animal”. He replied saying: “I’m absolutely devastated that I’ve hurt you and went against what you said I really am so sorry xx”.
Wilson, who was on bail, denied the offences and went on trial at Newcastle Crown Court. Michele gave evidence against him from inside the courtroom.
She said: “I had to watch my video statement and be cross-examined in court by his defence. Every question he asked I answered straight back. I was honest – I had nothing to hide. It was hard, I felt like I was in a movie, but I did it.
“I was sobbing when I heard guilty. I was so overwhelmed and relieved.
“I was expecting him to get less so I was over the moon when he go 10 years. That night I slept for 15 hours. I think my body is repairing itself, I think it was needed.”
Michele, who works as an optical assistant, said the attack has had an impact her mental health. She said: “I have lost all my confidence and my self-esteem. I have tried to take my own life twice.
“At one point I couldn’t leave the house unless I was with someone and I wouldn’t go out on a night time. I’m finally able to relax, I can leave the house without being scared now.
“I’m finally able to move on and start healing. I can walk around with my head held high now. I’m like a jigsaw puzzle, I’m finding pieces of myself and putting them together again.”
Michele is hoping to encourage others, who may have been through a similar experience, to report their attacker to police. She said: “Be brave and have the courage to do it. If I can do it, you can as well.
“You will be believed. Don’t be scared, they are there to help you. I want to thank the police for everything they have done.”
Michele has also urged people to make use of Clare’s Law, which gives any member of the public the right to ask the police if their current or future partner may be a danger to them.
She added: “It’s always going to be in the back of my head, it’s never going to go away and it’s going to have a massive impact on my future relationships with men. At the moment, if any man tries to approach me I just go to bits. If I do get into a relationship in the future I will be using Clare’s Law on them.”
Clare’s Law, also known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, is named after Clare Wood. The 36-year-old, from Salford, was murdered by her ex-partner in 2009.
Anyone who wishes to use Clare’s Law can make an application through the police force’s website. National guidance states that Clare’s Law applications need to be completed in 28 days.
Northumbria Police say they take on average 11 days and if there is a serious risk from a new partner it’ll be done the same day. The number of applications received by the force has increased from 500 in 2018 to almost 4,000 last year.

