A mother and true crime video poster on TikTok 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, chronicling real-life crime stories for her 54,000 followers, and says making the videos helped her realize how she was being abused by her partner Karl Draper. .
She became increasingly concerned after spotting similarities between her situation and the domestic abuse stories she shared on TikTok and realized the extent of her treatment by MMA fighter Draper, 23.
Smith says the coercive control began shortly after he moved into his home in Kirkby, Liverpool, in December 2020.
He began stopping her from going out, monitored her social media and even kicked her puppy in April 2021 until it “screamed in pain,” she says.
Karl Draper (left) has been jailed for internally abusing his ex-partner Bekah Smith, right
TikTok true crime star Bekah Smith shared photos of her injuries with police
Draper, 23, admitted five counts of ABH and one of coercive control at Liverpool Crown Court.
The relationship became physically violent after she became pregnant in February 2022 when Draper strangled her until he thought she would miscarry.
He later attacked her shortly after she gave birth in April 2022, causing her cesarean section scar to open.
Posting online finally gave him the courage to go to the police and he saved videos and recordings of the assaults to show them.
Draper, from Liverpool, pleaded guilty to five counts of ABH and one count of coercive control at Liverpool Crown Court in February this year.
Last month he was jailed for two years 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 writing stories about domestic violence; I think deep down I knew 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.
Mrs Smith thought he was a “nice guy” and the relationship progressed quickly when Draper moved into her flat, but she says the “coercive and controlling” behavior began soon after they began living together.
Bekah Smith, pictured with her baby, spoke out about the abuse she suffered
Bekah Smith, pictured with MMA fighter Karl Draper, became aware of the domestic abuse she was suffering while posting TikTok videos about other true crime stories.
She said: “It was horrible from the moment he moved in, there were so many red flags.” She isolated me from everyone and prevented me from going out.
‘He monitored my social media and didn’t let me post things. My friends and family didn’t know how bad it was; I didn’t realize it either.”
Things turned violent in April 2021 when, shortly after kicking the dog, he grabbed Ms Smith by the neck and punched a hole in her wall.
She found out she was pregnant in September of that year, but Draper accused her of cheating and strangled her again, throwing her on the bed.
The following February, she attempted to end their relationship and Draper attacked, strangling her until she “couldn’t breathe” and “thought she was going to ‘die.”
She said: “I was constantly nervous but felt emotionally blackmailed into staying with him.”
‘I lost a baby before and was petrified of having a miscarriage when it attacked me.
“I often made excuses to go to the hospital for checkups so I could get away from him and check that the baby was okay.”
Her baby arrived prematurely on March 21, 2022 by cesarean section and spent several days in the neonatal ward.
Bekah Smith suffered injuries at the hands of Karl Draper, whom she met during lockdown.
She provided agents with an evidence bank that included photographs and video recordings of her threats.
Ms Smith hoped they could focus on the child, but Draper lashed out at her five days after giving birth, sending her a voice note that same month threatening her that she would “end up in the morgue”.
She said: ‘He pushed me so hard I fell and opened up my caesarean section scar. I had a lot of pain.
“I had to go back to have antibiotic cream applied and the wound bandaged; I was left with a big scar.” I didn’t have the courage to tell the midwife that it was her fault.
She has said that she always had an ‘interest in crime’ and decided to create her TikTok account, with the name @itzbekahsmithnewlast May.
She began filming and posting videos of herself narrating crime stories in the United Kingdom, such as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and the murderous nurse Lucy Letby.
Mrs Smith said: “He didn’t like me making the videos.” I could see myself gaining followers and gaining more confidence.
“I realized I was like these women I share stories about; it really hit me.”
Last September she found the courage to leave Draper, but described how he entered her house through a window and threatened to hurt himself.
She called the police and he was quickly arrested with the photographs he had taken of her injuries.
He described how Draper also kicked his dog, which “screamed in pain.”
Draper was sentenced to two years in jail last month at Liverpool Crown Court.
He was given a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting victim Bekah Smith.
These photographs, along with voice recordings, were used as evidence in the case against him.
She said: ‘The sentence was disappointing. But I feel lucky.
‘It took my whole life away and I finally hope to get some closure.
“I’m making more TikToks; I’m doing this so that no other woman has to endure what I’ve had to endure.”