A CWMBRAN woman who watched the man who raped and assaulted her be sentenced to 10 years behind bars, has spoken of the ordeal which has haunted her adult life.

Alfred James Brown was sentenced to 10 years at Cardiff Crown Court on June 5 and seven and a half of those years will be served behind bars. Watching the sentencing was Kate King, whose evidence in the trial helped lead to his convictions. She has bravely waived her legal right to anonymity.

Brown, 30, from Ty Fry Close, Blaenavon was found guilty of three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault, rape and sexual activity with a female under the age of 16. The charges related to incidents involving two women.

All of the charges, aside from two of the assaults, related to Kate King who has chosen to waive her right to anonymity to tell her story.

In 2004, Miss King, now 24, began her relationship with Brown, who was her first boyfriend. Months later, aged just 15, she fell pregnant and gave birth to their baby daughter on Christmas day 2005.

After her daughter was born, social services allowed for Miss King and the new-born to leave the hospital with Brown, despite her mother’s reservations. Together, they moved into a flat.

“Whenever he kicked off he would punch walls and pull the electric lights out. He used to destroy the food in the freezer too, stamping all over it so his daughter had nothing to eat,” Miss King claimed. “I felt I had to stay there.”

One of the convictions relates to an incident with a sword which happened in the flat at this time.

Miss KIng said: “He chased me around with a samurai sword and threatened to slit my rabbit’s throat with [it]. I had to lock myself in the bathroom.

“In September 2007 he raped me. The following February I left. I couldn’t do it anymore. I made him leave and I wouldn’t let him back in.

“The reason I had stayed was I was on my own because he wouldn’t let anyone in. But then he started going out more and a friend started coming over who had seen what was going on. I felt a little better that I could get rid of him because I had someone there for support.”

Young and naive, Miss King said she didn’t acknowledge she was a victim of domestic violence. She said: “I’d never had a relationship. I didn’t know.”

But things changed after the birth of her child - Brown became jealous of the attention the mum was giving her baby.

That made her stand up to him.

Later she locked him out and didn’t let him back in. After the relationship ended, Miss King was assaulted by Brown in Cwmbran town centre, where he grabbed her by the hair.

Although Miss King hadn’t reported these incidents to police prior to this trial, her mother, Nicola King, said she felt let down having tried to intervene at the beginning of the relationship. She said she told police her underage daughter was vulnerable and involved in a sexual relationship.

She said: “I went to the police and to social services and they didn’t want to know. She hadn’t been to school in three months.

“I was saying to social services, I need help. I was fighting a losing battle.

“If they had interfered then, none of this would have happened. I think everyone failed her. ”

A police officer approached Miss King last year, after Brown had been arrested for an incident involving another woman. Miss King started giving evidence in interviews in November last year.

She said: “I had a break down. I couldn’t stop seeing it. I was on diazepam, anti-depressants - I was having night mares.”

Miss King welcomed the sentence and said: “He’s got away with so much for so long. He’s got to be the dominating one, stripping the person of everything they’ve got until they are nothing.

“People should know what’s happened because it’s wrong what I’ve been through.

“I do feel angry because if I’d been told he had such a bad background it would have been different. The police and social services should answer to the fact they did nothing to help my mum put a stop to it.”

To anyone else who may find themselves in the situation Miss KIng was in, her message was simple: “You need to go to police, because otherwise it will destroy you.”

A Gwent Police spokesman said: “As a Police service we pride ourselves on offering the best possible service to victims of crime. If the victim in this case has any concerns about the way the Police responded we would be happy to address these with them directly.”

Torfaen Council also said they would address any issues with people directly.