A woman feared for her life as her footballer boyfriend hit her with an iron bar, forced her to eat paint and rubbed broken glass into her back.
Danielle Thomas, 33, from Doncaster, said she was beaten by Reece Thompson for almost three days straight, leaving her with a broken jaw and horrific bruising.
Thompson, 26, who played for York City in League Two, was jailed for three years and four months for the brutal abuse earlier this year.
He also received a 10-year restraining order preventing him from contacting Ms Thomas, who he threatened to make run down the street naked.
The victim told Lincolnshire Live : "Reece repeatedly hit me.
"He hit me with an iron bar, broke my jaw and smashed a mirror over my head.
"I was made to lick paint up off the floor and then he smashed another mirror over my head.
"It was when he picked up the second mirror that I thought I was going to die, I screamed for him to stop or he would kill me.
"He told me to get my arms down and take the beating like a real person."
She told The Sun her ex started beating her in April last year, when she woke up to him yanking her hair and hitting her head.
Thompson later apologised, although his behaviour became increasingly controlling over the next few months.
He exploded in a fit of rage in September last year when he discovered an intimate picture of Danielle from a decade ago.
Describing the moment Thompson attacked her with a bar, she said: "'Get on all floors on the bed,' he told me. Terrified, I obliged. Nothing could have prepared me for what came next.
"Reece smacked the metal bar against me, hard, five times. Then he gave me a choice. 'You can either have five more lashings or have your head shaved,' he told me.
"It was a cruel ultimatum. Desperate not to lose my hair, I accepted five more lashings. I felt like a shadow of myself."
The next day Ms Thomas had her ex pick their children up but he was worried and asked a support worker to check on her.
Police were called and she was taken to a refuge and Reece was later arrested and pleaded guilty to damaging property, actual bodily harm and inflicting grievous bodily harm at Nottingham Crown Court.
He was jailed for three years and four months, handed a 10-year restraining order and sacked from his job at Guiseley AFC.
- If you have an abusive partner you can ring Refuge on 0808 2000 247 or contact Women’s Aid .
