AS HER new mum Lucy unpacked the fish and chips, Emma Bardney felt a wave of comfort at the familiar smell.
After years of sexual and physical abuse, then aged 13, she hoped for a fresh start with her foster parents.
Emma Bardney was put into foster care aged 13 after being abused by her dad and then later by staff in her children’s home[/caption]
Yet, her foster dad, Stephen Noy, then 28, proved to be just as monstrous as the others.
He preyed on the vulnerable teen, groomed her into believing they were ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’, and sexually abused her for four years.
It wasn’t until decades later, in 2015, that Noy was finally jailed for 17 and a half years for offences against Emma, now 54, and another victim.
Shockingly, in March 2024, he was released after serving just half his sentence.
Emma’s childhood took a tragic turn at the age of 10, when her mum was killed in a car accident in 1977.
She went to go and live with her dad, but after he physically and sexually abused her, she was placed into a children’s home in Worksop aged 12.
But she was marred by further abuse when a staff member abused her too.
So when Noy fostered her with his wife Lucy*, Emma, then 13, thought she’d finally escaped the abusive life she had.
Emma from Nottinghamshire recalls: “The house was cosy and my foster mum and Stephen were lovely.
“I was happy to have a family again.”
But Noy began to groom the teenager, buying her cigarettes and giving her back rubs while his wife worked at the fish and chip shop on the weekends.
She says: “He’d call me ‘beautiful’ and constantly compliment me, making me feel special.”
Within a month, Noy made her have sex with him and referred to her as his ‘girlfriend’.
Nearly every weekend, he would touch me. I couldn’t escape.
Emma Bardney
He made her keep the abuse a secret, threatening that the family would break up if she told anyone.
Emma remembers: “I felt so guilty as I loved my foster mum.
“Nearly every weekend, he would touch me. I couldn’t escape.”
A year later, when Emma turned 15, she challenged Noy about their ‘relationship’.
She says: “I felt so awful about what was going on that I confronted him.
Noy groomed Emma, telling her she was his girlfriend despite the fact he had a wife[/caption]
“He promised to tell his wife. But he didn’t.”
‘Everything came crashing down’
At 17, the abuse suddenly stopped, and Emma moved out to train as a midwife, occasionally meeting up with Lucy.
She went on to have two children with her now ex-partner.
While Emma tried her best to forget the horrendous abuse she had endured, it came to a head when she was 30 and she suffered a breakdown.
She says: “One day, everything just came crashing down.
“All the men that had hurt me came to the surface, and it was all too much.
“I’d buried it so deep, but I just couldn’t handle it anymore.”
Emma took the abuse and put it on paper, penning a biography of her life which included details of the abuse.
I had a complete meltdown – I couldn’t believe he was there
Emma Bardney
Only four years later in 2005, she bumped into Noy at a family christening where she told him about her book.
When he asked her what the book was about, she told him ‘everything’.
She says: “He went as white as a ghost and looked completely terrified.
“He knew that meant I’d written all about his abuse at that time, though I’d used pseudonyms.”
But seeing Noy encourage Emma to seek the justice she deserved and she reported him to the police.
Noy denied all the accusations, and the case wasn’t taken any further at the time.
Years on, in January 2013, another victim came forward, and an investigation began with Emma’s case reopened.
In June 2015, at Nottingham Crown Court, Noy, then 57, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault against Emma, five counts of sexual assault on a girl under 14 and two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.
He was sentenced to 17 and a half years but he was released in March 2024, he was released after serving just half his sentence.
Despite being told area exclusion zones had been set up to prevent Emma from ever having to see his face again, she was left shaken after she bumped into him in a supermarket near where she worked.
Emma, who is married to Rob, 64, says: “Seeing him again, all the memories of his abuse came flooding back in an instant.
“I had a complete meltdown – I couldn’t believe he was there.
“I ran into the toilets and burst into tears.”
Incredibly, Emma’s exclusion zone did not cover Retford, just a few miles from where she lives.
Noy had been housed within 200 yards of her workplace.
How to report a sexual assault
- Contact a doctor or practice nurse at your GP surgery.
- Contact a voluntary organisation, such as Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust or Male Survivors Partnership.
- Call the 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247.
- Speak to the rape and sexual abuse support line run by Rape Crisis England and Wales – you can call the helpline on 0808 500 2222 or use the online chat (both are free and are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year).
Emma complained to the Yorkshire and the Humber Probation Service and was told that he would not be able to go to her work without giving at least a day’s notice.
Following a lengthy battle with probation and letters from both her psychologist and psychiatrist explaining the negative impact it was having on her mental health, Noy was moved from Retford in February this year.
The mum-of-two explains: “I felt like a prisoner at work.
“I was too scared to go into the town on my breaks, shopping, meet friends and even attend medical appointments.
“It was crippling. I barely left the house.
I was too scared to go into the town on my breaks, shopping, meet friends and even attend medical appointments
Emma Bardney
“During the time that he was in Retford, I had to drive past his house every day on my way to work. I saw him a few times, and he just glared at me, which has had a huge impact on my mental health.
“How is it ok to do that to victims who shouldn’t have to worry about seeing their abusers walking the streets again?”
Noy has since been housed in Worksop, which is still on Emma’s doorstep.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, which oversees probation services in England and Wales, said: “Victims must feel safe, which is why offenders released on licence must follow strict conditions, such as curfews and exclusion zones that prevent them approaching their victims.
“They face going back to prison if they break the rules.”
Emma says: “It feels like the offender has more rights than the victim.
“He should be placed miles away from his victims.
“It’s disgusting.”
She went on to find real love with her husband Rob[/caption]
