'I stayed silent... I didn't want my screams to scare our children'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A mum has told how she found the courage to report her husband's years of physical and emotional abuse. Carolyn Shepherd, 38, said her former partner Wayne Wellings isolated her away from her loved ones and locked her in the house when he wasn't there.

Ms Shepherd, who has two children with Wellings, said the abuse culminated with him beating her with a curtain pole to the point she thought she was going to die, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Last week Wellings, 39 was jailed for five years. Ms Shepherd, who has waived her right to automatic anonymity, has bravely spoken out about the abuse to encourage others who might be in the same position to seek help.

The mum, of Pensby, Wirral, said she met Wellings when she was 27. READ MORE: Man taken to hospital after being pulled from house fire She said: "I was approaching 30 and you know as a woman you feel like you have to be settled down so maybe I overlooked some of the red flags.