When Claire Harrison came round from the beating, she saw her ex-partner Darren Stenhouse holding plastic padlocks and chains
A brave woman has described the moment her ex-partner beat her with a hammer and tied her to a bed, just because she spoke to other men.
Mum-of-three Claire Harrison, 31, was hit nine times with a rubber mallet – including five times on the head.
During the brutal assault, her violent ex Darren Stenhouse, 38, told her “this is going to end with you in a box”.
Stenhouse beat her, tied her to a bed with security cables and imprisoned her. He said he would hurt her in front of the kids and was going to “cut her until she was unrecognisable”.
Miss Harrison managed to escape by tricking Stenhouse into letting her lie down in her daughter’s room, before she suddenly blocked the door and called 999.
Stenhouse lashed out on March 5, 2013, when he went to pick up his belongings from Claire's home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
They had split up in January that year and in the intermittent period she had become close to a work colleague, Damien Selleck, 31, who supported her through her ordeal and who she has since married.
Stenhouse, of no fixed address, appeared at Reading Crown Court in August 2013 and was jailed for eight-and-a-half years after admitting grievous bodily harm and false imprisonment.
Now, Miss Harrison has decided to speak out to encourage other victims of domestic abuse to tell someone.
She said: “I remember shielding my face and seeing Darren was holding a rubber mallet.
“He hit me once, then another eight times including five times to the head. I dropped to the blood-splattered floor and blacked out.
“When I came round, Darren was holding plastic padlocks and chains. He said he'd bought them earlier that day to use on me.
“He tied my arms and legs with metal security cables. He told me his friends were coming round, ‘to have fun with me’.
“I was petrified. There were tears running down my face. I begged him to stop.”
Miss Harrison tried to get Stenhouse "on side" to escape the beating, telling him she loved him and they could make the relationship work.
She said: “But he just shouted at me. He said he had duct tape and knives to cut me up until I was unrecognisable.
“He said he planned to hurt me in front of my kids, to torment them."
Miss Harrison’s children, Iisha, now 13, Kenzie, now seven and Morgan, now five, were at nursery and school.
She continued: “When I asked why he was doing this, he said I'd betrayed him by speaking to other men. I remember lying on the kitchen floor, aching.
“I wanted to close my eyes and give up but I couldn't stop thinking about my poor kids. So I forced myself to stay awake, and planned my escape.”
Stenhouse didn't realise that Miss Harrison had previously put her mobile phone in her pocket. She asked to lie down and Stenhouse obliged, asking where her phone was.
Miss Harrison said it was in her daughter's room and when Stenhouse went to look for it she blocked the door and rang the police. Miss Harrison shouted down the phone: "Come now or I am going to die."
Determined thug Stenhouse tried to break in, but the police arrived and he fled.
Miss Harrison was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Stenhouse was found nearby and arrested.
“Blood was pouring from my head,” she said. “The next day I was allowed home. The children were terrified of my swollen face, but eventually they let me hug them.”
Afterwards, Miss Harrison found support in her old work colleague Mr Selleck.
“Damien was handsome and kind,” she said.
“He acted nothing like Darren. In July he proposed.”
Miss Harrison told how Stenhouse had been violent before the mallet attack – but she had always taken him back.
When she met Stenhouse in a nightclub, in Aylesbury in 2009, he was loving and gentle, but soon it became clear he snapped whenever he drank.
Miss Harrison added: "He carried on calling me names and I always walked around on egg shells with him. He hit me when my kids went to bed too.
“I should have left, but Darren never hurt them and I loved him, despite him making me feel worthless. He said no-one else would ever love me.
“In March 2011, Darren smashed a cricket ball against the side of my head.”
On this occasion Stenhouse appeared at Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court where he admitted a count of common assault and was jailed for 22 weeks.
After he was released Miss Harrison took him back, hoping it they would have a fresh start. However, Stenhouse started slipping back into his abusive ways calling her a "fat ugly w****".
She left Stenhouse in January 2013 and wants other women to be encouraged to leave their violent partners.
“People need to pack their bags and leave,” she said. “Damien made me realise that you should never let your partner be violent.
“I realise Darren manipulated me. He made me feel like I didn't have a future without him.
“I've told Iisha not to stand for any man's abuse. I don't want her ever to suffer like I did.
“I feel lucky to be alive. Had Darren found my phone, I wouldn’t have been able to escape and he could have eventually killed me.
“I urge victims of domestic abuse to tell someone. Don't live in silence and fear like me. Get help before it’s too late.”