A survivor of domestic violence has bravely spoken out after her ex snapped her arm in half to stop her from going to her new job.
The woman had been in a relationship with Adam Miller, 30, for around two years when the abuse began.
He initially began by financially abusing her, expecting her to fund his lifestyle, to the point she was declared bankrupt.
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Then during arguments he would resort to violence, punching, kicking and smacking her round the back of the head with such force that it left her ears ringing, she said.
When she decided to start a new job volunteering, Miller, of Stockport, took exception, and attacked her in the most brutal way.
Grabbing her by the forearm, he twisted and snapped her arm. She was left needing metal plates and hours of surgery.
Now Miller is behind bars after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, his victim is speaking out in the hope she can help other women escape too.
“For two years I thought he was the best thing since sliced bread,” the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
“But after we got together, from December 2018, he punched me in the face after an argument. After that it carried on.
“There were daily beatings, emotional abuse and mental torture.
“He used to beat me up for all sorts of things - one time it was for dropping his socks out of his washing.
“He would apologise, I was terrified and felt like I couldn’t call for help.
“I used to constantly think that I would end up dead.”
She said that when she started a new job volunteering, he became abusive and jealous.
On the day of her first shift during the lockdown, she said she had turned her phone off whilst in work, but when she turned it back on there were lots of messages from him telling her to come home.
She said Miller ‘used Covid’ as an excuse for her not to go.
“He said he was worried about me picking up Covid at my new job but it wasn’t about Covid at all, “she said.
“He did it because he was annoyed that I wanted to go to my new job instead of staying at home with him.
“He was angry, he said he was going to pick me up and I felt threatened.
“I stayed out as I was too scared to go home.
“A few days later, he came back and went to give me a kiss and I said no as I was still upset and he saw red.
“He said: “Come upstairs now” and I was scared so I said no.
“He said ‘come up or I’ll drag you up’.
“He punched me twice and then he asked me to quit, and said if I didn’t quit he would break my arm.
“He then grabbed my arm and kept twisting it and twisting it until it snapped.”
She said she didn’t go to the police immediately as he persuaded her not to, but later she called 999 reporting a burglary in an attempt to scare Miller off with a police presence.
It was then they asked about her arm which she was hiding in her dressing gown, and she ‘broke down’.
She had previously gone to hospital for treatment, but told doctors she had fallen down the stairs as Miller was on the phone listening to what she was saying.
But doctors told her that the break in her arm was similar to what they see in ‘child abuse’.
Once officers conducted PNC checks on Miller he went on the run, but continued messaging the woman until he was caught on December 15.
“I had to live in a women’s refuge to keep me safe, there were people coming round to the house demanding money that he owed,” she said.
“It turned out he had a really prolonged history of domestic violence. And he kept getting away with it.
“I just think he is going to end up killing somebody.
“When he used to hit me round the back of the head, there would be ringing in my ears because he hit me so hard.”
Speaking of how it has affected her, she said: “It’s been really hard.
“I pushed through as I had to. I will always be frightened.
“He’s going to get out one day but I can't stop living my life and be a recluse.
“He said to me: ‘If I ever go to prison, I’m going to know that it was your fault, I’m going to get angrier and angrier and want to kill you’.
“I don’t think he will ever change.”
She said that during their relationship Miller would manipulate her by threatening to kill himself to make her stay with him, and would threaten to crash the car when he was driving and ‘kill them both’.
“He used to tell me I was s*** at everything,” she said.
“I thought once I left him I would get my freedom back, I lost so many friends and family. He isolated me.
“I felt scared of him but he was all I had.”
However, since she ended the relationship, she summoned up the courage and turned her life around.
“After I left him I thought I’ve had this horrible life and now I want to do something with it, so I’ve got a place at university,” she said.
“There is a lot of stigma around domestic violence. People get stuck in these cycles.
“When he said I would never do anything, I believed him.
“It just shows that if I can get out and do it, then they can too.
“It just upsets me to think there are women out there, who are probably thinking they are never going to do anything with their lives.
“They can do it. It’s not too late.
“The man or the woman doing it - they are scum."
Minshull Street Crown Court previously heard that before the assault on November 21, Miller was behaving ‘oddly’, sucking his teeth and punching himself in the head.
“He began to approach her and said: “Do you think I am some sort of d******” and continued with his erratic behaviour,” prosecutor Justin Hayhoe said.
“This caused her to fear for her safety and what he may do next, she felt he was about to assault her and she was right.
“She described adopting a ‘bracing stance’ and whilst in that position the defendant began to assault her.
“He punched her, forcefully, to the back of the head.
“She heard ringing in her ears from that punch for about 10 minutes and felt disorientated and struggled to stand up.”
After she managed to get to her feet Miller grabbed her left arm, forcefully trying to pull her hand and fingers back, the court heard.
He then grabbed her wrist and began to squeeze it causing her great pain.
“He next twisted her arm behind her back using great force until she heard her arm click and felt her bone detach,” the prosecutor continued.
“He released his grip on the arm which flopped by her side.
“He then said to her: “Let’s see you volunteer now with a broken arm”.
“He then sent numerous threatening messages, including one that read: ‘Listen you think you can do this to me hahaha did your arm not teach you anything?”
The woman was left with a displaced fracture to her wrist.
Miller, of Fairfield Road, was jailed for 36 months and made the subject of an indefinite restraining order.
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