A COUNCILLOR'S wife broke down in tears yesterday as she told a court she feared for her life when her husband began beating her.

Ukranian-born Irina Rogan said her husband, Trevor, a Hartlepool borough councillor, smeared curry in her face, hit her, grabbed her by the throat, twisted her arm and pulled her hair during the attack, in the early hours of October 22, last year.

Mr Rogan, 53, of John Howe Gardens, Hartlepool, denies a charge of common assault.

Hartlepool Magistrates' Court heard how the couple met in 2003 over the internet.

They married in Ukraine in June 2003 after a six-month romance and returned to Hartlepool to live.

In April 2004, Irina gave birth to the couple's daughter.

The court heard that Mr Rogan left the family home at about 10pm on October 21 to visit his children from a previous relationship.

He returned at about 2am the following day after he had been socialising in the town with fellow councillors.

When he returned, he began eating a takeaway in the kitchen.

Under questioning by Viv Turner, prosecuting, Mrs Rogan said: "I asked him where he had been and he did not answer. He just sneered at me, so I threw the food in his face. He was very drunk. I know I was wrong in doing that, but at that particular time, I just could not control myself."

Mrs Rogan said her husband then threw the curry back in her face and began to assault her.

She said: "He pushed the plate towards my face and squashed it to my face and then he started beating me. He was hitting me with his fists on my body."

The court was told that at that point, the couple's daughter began to cry and Mrs Rogan went upstairs to tend to her.

She said she came back down, but her daughter began crying again.

The court was told that Mr Rogan went to see to her.

Mrs Rogan said: "He was going up the stairs and I was following him and then he started beating me up again.

"He was hitting my head against the wall. He was twisting my arm behind my back and he was twisting my wrist. He was trying to strangle me, saying, 'I am going to kill you'.

"He is an ex-soldier and I knew that he had killed people before, and so I was really fearing for my life."

Robin Denny, defending, told Mrs Rogan: "I am suggesting that you are lying to the court in the account you have given to get your husband into trouble."

Mr Denny said there were no obvious injuries in photographs of Mrs Rogan taken after the attack. He said: "The reason there is nothing to be seen in these photographs is that very little happened to you."

The trial was adjourned until May 29.