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Outlook: I hit puberty, then burned down my family home

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Modelling headshot of Nikki Owen from 1975

22/09/2021 GMT

I hit puberty, then burned down my family home

BBC World Service - Outlook, I hit puberty, then burned down my family home

As a teenager Nikki Owen's mental health and behaviour quickly spiralled out of control

Aged 18 Nikki Owen set fire to the family home – her mother narrowly escaped. In court, with her family’s remarkable support, Nikki’s defence made legal history.

When Nikki Owen was 18, she set fire to the family home while her mother was still inside. Her mother escaped but Nikki found herself in court, accused of intending to kill her.

This was the culmination of years of self-loathing, self-harm and suicide attempts that, Nikki says, turned her into a monster. In her younger years, Nikki had worked as a child model; she was shy and well-behaved and couldn't understand why her personality had transformed so quickly and so severely. It wasn’t until she was facing up to 15 years in prison that, thanks to her family's persistence, she was diagnosed with severe premenstrual syndrome, or PMS as it’s more commonly known. Nikki was then able to use this diagnosis in her defence in court.

Nikki’s case made legal history in England as the first time in which premenstrual syndrome was used as a mitigating factor in a criminal case. Since then a plea of PMS has been used in court in cases of murder, infanticide, manslaughter and many other crimes.

For Nikki it meant she was given a second chance at life and one she has used to help other people by setting up her own organisation, the Healing Hub through which she supports people to deal with stress and anxiety.

If you've been affected by any of subjects in this programme you can find support and additional information below:

BBC Action Line: https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/
Befrienders Worldwide: https://www.befrienders.org/
The International Association for Premenstrual Disorders: https://iapmd.org/
National Association for Premenstrual Syndromes https://www.pms.org.uk

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Picture: Modelling headshot of Nikki Owen in 1975
Credit: Courtesy of Nikki Owen

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