THE brave victim of harrowing domestic abuse faced the man who beat her while she was pregnant with his child.

Lee Ansell, 42, carried out two attacks on his former partner at the home they shared.

Before the second attack, in January 2021, Ansell became angry and started drinking.

After his former partner went to sleep, he entered the bedroom and shouted at her about an “inconsequential” entry in a diary.

He threw the diary at her, hitting her on the cheek, before launching a vicious assault.

He struck her in the face, grabbed her by the throat and forced her onto the bed while she struggled for air.

Judge Timothy Walker said: “She was begging you to get off and you punched her to the face over and over again while pinning her down on the bed by her throat.”

The court heard the victim fled the house with her nine-year-old son and later struggled to recall much of the attack, other than a noise which she suspects was her son banging on the bedroom door.

When police attended the home and entered the bedroom, they found blood “smeared” on the walls and on the bed. 

The injuries suffered by the victim in the attack in January 2020 were described as “horrific”, including fractures to her face, chipped teeth and fractures to all four walls of her sinuses.

Judge Timothy Walker deemed Ansell to be a dangerous offender and imposed an extended sentence of four years imprisonment with a further year to be served on licence.

Braintree and Witham Times: Locked up: Lee AnsellLocked up: Lee Ansell

Read more: Thug smiled in court as judge described horrific attack on pregnant partner

In an impact statement penned after the January attack, the victim said she had suffered flashbacks.

She said: “He’s completely destroyed my life as I saw it.

“I just can’t understand what drove him to do this to me and I keep cycling back through my conflicting feelings for Lee, trying to make sense of it.”

The court heard she could barely open her left eye after attack.

She said she had been in “vast amounts of pain”, struggling to eat and resorting to drinking through a straw.

An updated statement written shortly before the court hearing and after the birth of their child said: “The heartache and pain I feel from what you’ve done will remain with me forever.

“I truly loved you with all my heart, regardless of what you thought or believed.

“I live each day wondering why.

“I don’t think you will ever imagine, or ever know, just how much this hurts.”

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