A psychiatric report was ordered on Paul Lidford

Paul Lidford, 31, from Denbigh, was convicted of four specimen assault charges against the 27-year-old.

At the end of a week long trial, the judge at Mold Crown Court rejected a bail application for the ex-soldier.

Mr Recorder Philip Marshall said he was so concerned about the evidence he had heard it was safer to remand Lidford.

He said: "I am very concerned because of all the evidence I have heard, particularly what happened since his release from custody last October."

The court heard that when first locked up, Lidford told his partner he had skin cancer and she withdrew her complaints.

I just want everything to end - the violence, the aggression and being scared. Lidford's former partner

But when he was released on bail and ordered not to contact her, the violence just got worse, said his victim.

During a week long trial the jury heard how his victim was forced to lie in a dog's bed by Lidford and threatened that if she looked from under the blanket she would be assaulted.

This happened about five times and on one occasion it ended with her being repeatedly kicked after she looked out from under the blanket.

She suffered swelling and bruising across her back and when Lidford stopped the abuse, she could not move and thought she was seriously hurt - but he refused to call an ambulance..

During their five year relationship, the court heard, she was subjected to widescale abuse - including being forced to stand for an hour or more against a wall with her hands on her head.

Dog lead

If she moved Lidford would push her face into the wall, the court was told.

The woman wept continuously as she told the jury that she had reported matters to the police in the past including an incident when Lidford whipped her with a dog lead.

But she had always withdrawn the allegations, believing that her partner loved her and would change, she told the jury.

However, she said that she now realised that was not the case and she could not put up with the abuse saying, "I just cannot live like that anymore".

She told the jury how she had three jobs at one stage so that she did not go home often, said she had tried to withdraw the latest allegations against Lidford and had to be summonsed to attend court.

Possession

She said she had not wanted to give evidence but had done so, realising it was the only ways she could bring it all to an end.

Asked why she has stayed with Lidford so long, she told the jury: "It has been really hard to break away.

"That is why I have come here today, I just want everything to end - the violence, the aggression and being scared."

The prosecution said Lidford, formerly a member of the Royal Welch Fusiliers but now a self-employed heating engineer, had tried to turn his girlfriend into his possession.

The judge ordered a psychiatric report and sentencing was adjourned for six weeks.