A MOTHER-OF-THREE who was dragged along the floor and had her dreadlocks ripped from her head by her former partner has urged other victims of domestic violence not to suffer in silence.

Hayley Grand-Scrutton of Salisbury said she feared for her life and those of her children, Stefan, six, Izabella, nine, and Sebastian, 11, when her ex-boyfriend subjected her to a vicious and prolonged attack at her home.

Now Hayley, aged 29, has decided to speak out as her family begins to recover.

At first the pair were like any young couple but eight months in things started to change.

“We started talking through Facebook and everything was beautiful,” she said.

“It started with the controlling behaviour and there were a couple of alarm bells but nothing that I really realised. I couldn’t leave the house without him knowing where I was and who I was with otherwise there was a row.”

The physical abuse came to a head on December 22, 2016.

The pair had had an argument and Hayley had told her partner to move out of her house. But when she came home he was there and the couple argued.

“He grabbed me by my throat and chucked me to the bed, I was coming in and out of consciousness. I thought I was going to die.”

Hayley was dragged by her dreadlocks down her hallway, watched by her children.

Her ex-boyfriend also ripped out her dreadlocks, leaving her with bald patches, and cuts and bruises across her face.

Hayley’s son Sebastian was also grabbed by his hair and pushed over, leaving his face bruised.

Hayley said she was not going to make a statement to police about the abuse but her daughter Izabella, nine, persuaded her.

“She came and sat with me on my bed and said ‘mummy please tell the police’.

“Watching her go through something like made me report it.”

Hayley said that during her time with her abuser he became like an addiction to her.

“I was petrified of him. I was scared by that point but I had rose tinted glasses over my eyes. He was the most amazing human being to me.

“I was living in a vortex of nightmare.”

Following a trial Hayley’s-ex was given a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, but despite her abuser not being sent to prison Hayley has urged other victims of domestic abuse to come forward.

“If you can go through all of that you’ve got the strength in you to love yourself. The more you sit in silence it is not going to help.

“The more people who come forward the more the courts have to listen. The punishments have to be heightened.”

Hayley is now rebuilding her life and is hoping to become one of the world’s strongest women through bodybuilding.

“Domestic abuse doesn’t define who you are. I have found who I am again.”

Hayley said that she has forgiven her ex-partner so her and her children will be able to let go, adding: “Forgiveness in life is absolutely key to recovery.”

She added: “Our home is filled with love and happiness, there is still a long way to go. Any situation we come across we now fight it as a family.”