Tina Turner: survivor of brutal domestic abuse speaks out about attack as ex Steven Wood sentenced

A domestic abuse survivor has opened up about the shocking abuse she received from her partner, in an attempt to raise awareness of the issue.

Martina (Tina) Turner was left for dead by her partner Steven Wood last year, after he repeatedly stabbed her.

Wood has since been convicted for the crime, with Tina speaking out about her experiences in the hope that it will encourage others who are experiencing abuse to speak up.

Tina begged for her life during attack

The attack took place on 21 May 2021, inside the kitchen at the couple’s Gateshead home.

An argument between the two broke out after Tina informed her partner that she would be going out later that day.

Wood is said to have believed that his partner did not want to spend time with him, and launched a brutal attack on her.

He grabbed knife from the kitchen drawer and began to stab Tina in the back, so hard that the blade of the knife snapped, before grabbing another knife to attack her.

Wood stabbed Tina a total of 29 times, doctors would later tell her she was lucky to be alive after the ordeal, which saw her admitted to hospital with a blade still embedded in her chest.

Speaking out about the ordeal, Tina said: “I’m not your victim, I’m a miracle.”

She said: “As I begged for my life, as I told him we could talk about anything, he told me ‘no, I have to finish you off because I am not going to prison for you.’

“That sentence stays with me, I hear it every day in my head. I think it will stay with me the rest of my life. I feel so naïve, stupid, so manipulated.”

Following the attack, Wood phoned his son and was heard telling him that he had done something “bad”, before locking Tina in the home and leaving her for dead.

‘I ignored the signs’

Tina met Steven in 2019, and the couple had lived together for one year before Wood’s brutal attack.

Tina said the move was a step towards planning their future together, explaining that she was “besotted and so much in love with Steven.”

She said that she believed she ignored red flags for his behviour over the course of their relationship, including being told a story of how an ex-partner left while he was at work, and how another partner fell down the stairs.

Police later told Tina that Wood’s ex-partner was actually pushed by him with a metal pole.

Tina, who previously worked in education, said: “Looking back, I think I ignored the signs. He told me he had Bipolar disorder and I helped him, we went to therapy, it’s in my nature to help people but that was my downfall with him, I didn’t see the red flags and didn’t take notice.

She continued: “He was very insecure and needed constant reassurance that I loved him for who he was. He had never been violent but could be controlling and paranoid.

“He told me one of his ex-partners left him while he was at work. She had just emptied the house and disappeared. I wonder now if she left because she was terrified of him.”

Wood convicted of attempted murder

Northumbria Police detectives launched an investigation into the attack on Tina soon after it took place.

Wood was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday 22 July, after he previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder and has been sentenced to life with a minimum of 12 years in prison.

Tina said: “I will celebrate 21 May as my second birthday – it wasn’t the day I died, it was the day I survived.

“My message to other people who might be in a similar position is please don’t let it get as far I did. When someone starts to intimidate you, take it seriously, don’t wait until it’s too late and they attack you.”

• If you have concerns about a partner or a loved one you think could be at risk of domestic abuse, you can apply to use Clare’s Law – a national information request which checks a person’s record and is completely free and confidential.
• The National Domestic Abuse Helpline can be contacted on 0808 2000 247 – www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk