BT help keep domestic violence alive.

I am raising this, as I believe lives may be at risk if nothing is done to resolve this.

To put the story to put into context - according to the Home Office, approximately 100 women are murdered each year due to domestic violence. Although I was aware that her husband had a history of violence towards others, until very recently this had not been targeted at my friend.

However, last week the situation changed. On 9th January, my friend received a telephone call from her husband saying he was leaving her.

Later that evening I went to check on her. When I arrived her husband was on the telephone threatening violence towards both of us. Although my friend was upset, but just calmed her down and helped her think of what she needed to do in a rational way, including transfer all the bills into her name, which she proceeded to do - including the telephone. On speaking with BT, they informed her that they needed to stop the existing account and start a new one. However, due to the violence threatened, they would keep her old number active until the new account came live.

On 10th January, her husband emptied the bank accounts and then returned to my friend's to collect his belongings. Whilst there, he started gabbing objects that were to hand and throwing them at my friend. He also began threatening violence towards her. Police were involved to try and deal with the situation. They advised my friend that if anything happened again to call them on 999.

On 11th January, BT cut my friend's phone off. This was only discovered when people who had been trying to contact her who were aware of the situation raised the alarm and called the police.

That afternoon and evening, my friend spent a total of 8 hours trying to get through to BT, being kept on hold for up to an hour at a time, with nobody willing to help get the line reconnected.

Finally on Saturday morning she spoke to someone from BT customer services who said that given the threats of violence, they would treat this as an emergency and get the phone reconnected by that evening. However the evening came and went and still no connection.

After leaving her number on the ring back service on Sunday, she awaited a phone call back from BT customer services. This never came.

That afternoon I brought her round for tea. On returning home, she found the living room had been turned up-side-down. Unable to ring the police herself, a neighbour informed the police as to what had happened. The police confirmed that the perpetrator had to have had a key as there was no forced entry. They concluded that her husband was behind this.

She has spent two hours on the phone to BT again this evening and all they will say is that it's nothing to do with them, that even in this situation (which they say they deal with a lot) that their contractors work on a 2 week timeframe and are not willing to move from this regardless.

BT have now informed her that her husband asked for the original line to be cut off in December which means he was planning this and therefore I am getting extremely worried for her safety.

I am also concerned that BT are now saying the timescales are going to be delayed even more as due mistakes they have been making.

I am really worried about this. I believe that my friend's life is in danger and the fact BT will no act to restore this line, even to allow 999 calls only, means that someone who is extremely vulnerable has basically been left as a sitting duck.

I also believe that there are potentially thousands of victims of domestic abuse who could find themselves in a similar situation in the future. For the sake of the lives of the people involved, this is something that cannot continue.