A presentation from the mother of Sophie Elliott stopped for a moment's silence in recognition of another university student recently killed through domestic violence.
Lesley Elliott spoke to Massey University last week about the dangers of being in a relationship riddled with abuse. Mrs Elliott represented The Sophie Elliott Foundation, a trust she initiated after the death of her 22-year-old daughter.
Sophie was stabbed more than 200 times in 2008 by ex-boyfriend and tutor Clayton Weatherston in her bedroom, while her mother was downstairs.
"I heard Sophie screaming and went up ... I opened the bedroom door. Sophie was white and the room was red. He shut the door on me and I just let him," Mrs Elliott said.
She did not want to go into the details because the incident was still hard to speak of but, says she now focuses on making people aware of the signs of an abusive relationship. After the incident Mrs Elliott said she visited the Women's Refuge website and found a checklist of an abusive relationship. She found most of these signs were present in Sophie's on/off relationship with Weatherston.
