Tormented years of battered wife (From Penarth Times)

Tormented years of battered wife

A PENARTH woman has revealed her heartbreaking story of horrific abuse suffered at the hands of her husband.

Ruth Corsi, 30, was viciously assaulted by her husband Alex, 29, on September 22 at their Laburnum Way home, leaving her with a broken nose.

Alex Corsi, of Dochdwy Road, Llandough was convicted of actual bodily harm by magistrates on November 3.

He was ordered to pay his wife £300 in compensation and given an 80-hour community punishment order.

Ruth, who is now separated from her husband and is in the process of getting an injunction taken out against him, was assaulted in front of their four-year-old son, Jack.

She says she has suffered extreme violence and abuse from her partner throughout their 14 year relationship.

Ruth said: "We'd been together since we were 16 after meeting at school. "The violence started early and built up over the years. He'd hit me where he knew nobody would see the bruises - the top of the legs or around the body.

"It didn't take much to spark it off, often answering him back would be enough.

"In 1995 he fractured one of my ribs. It started with pushing and shoving and ended with full-blown punches.

"Looking back there were times when he could have killed me. "He's smashed my head against the wall. Several times he tried to strangle me. "In 1997 I was taken into the infirmary after he pushed me down the stairs. I lied to police, my family and doctors telling them I'd fallen."

For years, Ruth suffered in silence but at Christmas in 2002 she miscarried her baby after Alex beat her.

She added: "A lot of people were shocked when they found out what was happening. The thing is Alex doesn't look like a yob and comes over as very nice, but there's a very different side to him."

For Ruth, the turning point came when she feared her husband might turn his violence on their four-year-old son: "I think if I hadn't got out it would just have gone on forever.

"It became a routine. I ended up living a lie to cover it up.

"When I tell people they can't believe that I put up with it for so long. My parents and people at work always suspected something was wrong but nobody could reach me. I was in a world of my own.

"People assume that adults can make rational decisions but domestic abuse, like child abuse, is hard to break out of. I was often left feeling guilty and that I had somehow deserved what I got.

"When he calmed down Alex had a way of always talking you around. I think there was such a strong bond between us as we had been together for so long that he almost trusted me never to tell anyone. And I never did.

"Also we had good jobs, a child and a home together and it seemed like such a lot to lose."