WHEN Rebecca met Richard she thought he was the man of her dreams.

Before meeting Richard, the 36-year-old from Stanley had been trapped in an abusive relationship with the father of two of her three daughters for 11 years.

He beat her and she regularly called the police, but the attacks continued.

The couple split, but Rebecca found that she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire when she moved south to be with her new love.

She said: "He had all the patter, a good personality and we got on great.

"He gave me loads of attention, did everything for me and my daughters, who were 15 and 11, and I thought he was fantastic at first."

But it was not long before Richard changed and he became aggressive towards his new family. He was receiving long-term incapacity benefit following a car crash and bought and sold furniture and cars to supplement his income.

He drank up to eight cans of beer a night and it was not long before the older daughter, Helen, suspected he was taking drugs, because he rarely slept.

He also became violent.

Rebecca said: "He cut off the oxygen to my throat by strangling me with his hands and used to drag me around the floor by my hair.

"He would do it in front of the kids and keep me up all night. It was physical and mental torture. He would punch me in the face, kick me, hit me with his razor and also sexually abuse me. It got so bad I honestly thought he was going to kill me. I started to fear for the lives of me and my daughters."

Rebecca confided in mental health service staff and they found her a place in a women's shelter for two weeks, but she returned to Richard after he promised he had changed and would stop drinking.

She said: "It was even worse when I went back because I had humiliated him and he wanted to punish me."

The beatings got worse and eventually Helen's teachers asked to meet her. The school, teachers and police all knew about Richard because he had been in prison for violence in the past and split with his former family because of his behaviour.

Rebecca knew she had to leave, and with the help of social services and her children's school, she arranged to flee for the final time.

But when she returned to Stanley her daughters told her they had been sexually abused by Richard.

Helen tried to hang herself and took an overdose of tablets while the family was still living with Richard, but Rebecca never understood why.

Since the truth has come out, both Helen and Hannah have attempted suicide.

The family is still too traumatised to press charges, but Rebecca hopes Richard will one day pay for his crimes.

The family has been receiving help from Derwentside Domestic Violence Forum and Rebecca is urging people who recognise her situation to get in touch.

She said: "The workers are so friendly and supportive. They have helped us loads because they are so easy to talk to and they really know how to help."

* The names of the family have been changed.