THE traumatised wife of a jujitsu blackbelt who was jailed for 12 months for viciously beating her up has spoken of 25 years living in "fear and terror" of a man who hero-worshiped the Kray twins.
Angela Millward, 50, the long-suffering partner of ex-company director of Macclesfield Blinds Ltd David Millward has told of her relief after her "obsessive and psychotic" husband was finally behind bars. And she told how she knew that had she not escaped to a relative's home after the last violent attack she would have been killed by her own husband.
Wife-beater Millward, 54, who lived with his family in Robin Lane in Sutton, was jailed at Chester Crown Court last week after admitting assaulting Angela in March, which left her beaten and bruised with a severely-damaged right hand.
Sentencing Millward, Judge Roger Dutton told him "This was an extremely cowardly attack on a defenceless woman."
Earlier Anna Price, prosecuting, had told how Millward, a black belt in jujitsu with seven years of boxing training, assaulted Angela after accusing her of flirting with other men.
He punched her to the head till she fell to the floor, then picking her up again and continuing to pummel her as she screamed at him to stop.
The court heard that on the night of the attack Angela had returned home from a Spanish lesson, when a drunken Millward had followed her upstairs and began to beat her. He left her with cuts and bruising to her head and damage to her right hand, which now contains fragments of floating bone.
The attack was only halted when their 17-year-old son, who was upstairs at the time, walked into the room.
Simon Nichol, defending, said that it had been a close marriage and they had built up a highly profitable business together, but told how Millward had become "suspicious, jealous and depressed" over his wife and had turned to drink.
After the court case Angela, who now lives in Congleton and successfully runs Macclesfield Blinds single-handed, said the beating was the final straw in a 28-year marriage, mostly filled with physical and mental abuse.
She said the "strong independent" man she fell in love with transformed into an obsessive monster who would viciously beat her, stalk her, and spy on her every move.
"The last attack lasted 20 minutes but felt like hours, I knew if I didn't go that night he would kill me. He was accusing me of having an affair again. I didn't love him for many years, but I was terrified of him because he said if I ever left him he would murder me most graphically.
"This is a man whose heroes are the Kray twins, his face would light up when he watched the film where they would slash a man's face and give him a permanent smile. For years I had no choice but to stay with him. I had no money and no way of keeping myself safe. I knew that even if I went to the other side of the country he would find me and kill me."
Then Angela inherited almost £200,000 when her mother died in 2002, which she used to pay off the deeds to the business, and the family home, but still tried to "make a go" of her marriage.
Angela set up Macclesfield Blinds in 1986, with David joining in 1998.
Every few months Angela says she was attacked in one form or other from every reason ranging from being accused of flirting with men, to being branded a "tart" who was having an affair because she dared to wear nail polish.
In a second hearing at Macclesfield Magistrates court, Millward's defence lawyer, Stephen Morton, told how Angela was an argumentative and malicious woman.
Reporting restrictions had to be placed on the mitigation at the time because there were so many derogatory assertions made against her. But this week Angela told how she could not take a bath without David following her. He ridiculed her, constantly telling her she was "fat, unattractive and thick", was banned from wearing a skirt or make-up, and could only wear clothes chosen by her husband and socialise with his chosen few.
Angela said: "It would come in waves. You could feel the tension building up to a final crescendo. It didn't matter what I did or said."
She added: "I daren't complain or this would be my retribution, I couldn't say anything. It was like walking on eggshells.
"Afterwards there would be crocodile tears, he would say he was sorry, but he never meant it."
The couple were married in 1975 when Angela was 21 and David was 26. "He was a strong dependable man who would care for me," she said.
And then the attacks began...the first was on August 9, 1979. Angela said: "We were happy at first, and then he began not to pay me any attention. I was becoming like a skivvy to him."
One night Angela danced with another man at a party to try and catch her husband's eye, and later paid the price. That night when they returned home he threw her against a wall and punched her, giving her her first black eye.
She said: "I felt guilty, maybe I should have tried to find another way to get his attention but I didn't know how."
The attack continued when after her three miscarriages, Angela gave birth to a son in 1986, and what would should have been a joyous time just meant more heartbreak.
She said she once turned for support to her mother, who has since died, who told her: 'My dear, you've made your bed, now you must lie in it.'
"He was totally possessive and psychotic. I wasn't allowed to have any friends. He even resented me being in the local WI so much that I had to give that up."
She said that he also installed spy equipment on her phones and in the offices, and placed bugs that he hung in an anorak near her chair to listen to her every move.
