‘I was going to die that day. This man had no look in his eye – there was nothing there and he looked evil’

“I’M going to f ****** kill you and I’m going to kill your f ****** daughter” – these were the words uttered by Nicole Pitcock’s boyfriend that made her realise she had to break free from the relationship.

Having met Christian Jones at work, mum-of-one Nicole thought she had found a “nice, good-looking” man she could see a future with.

But very quickly the 25-year-old became possessive and controlling – culminating in a terrifying violent attack.

Matters came to a head the day after Jones had returned home from a drinking bender and assaulted his girlfriend of five months and threatened to kill her one-year-old daughter after he had drunkenly wet the bed.

It was the moment Nicole, of Barry, said she knew she had to step away or end up dead.

Describing her first meeting with chef Jones, who worked with supervisor Nicole at Cosmeston Country Park cafe, the 22-year-old said: “He was very charming, good looking, he was lovely and everyone in work got on with him. I thought he was amazing and really nice.”

The relationship progressed and Jones started staying the night at Nicole’s house and met her daughter, whom she does not wish to be named.

Nicole added: “He was fantastic Christian Jones was jailed for 16 months

around my daughter – he literally idolised her and he was amazing with her.

“My little girl loved him and she would follow him round the house. They were amazing together and that’s why it came as such a shock that he threatened to kill her.”

As months passed Jones’ behaviour towards Nicole became stranger and he started to control aspects of her life.

“One of the girls in work said someone was good looking,” said Nicole.

“He didn’t like that and I couldn’t speak to the girls about celebrity males. He would turn – he would be really nasty and would call me names.

“I used to go to parties when I was younger, kids parties, and there were boys there but he didn’t like that and he would call me a slag.

“There were red flags and at the time I thought nothing of it, but looking back I see it. I just thought he didn’t like me talking about other males. It was more verbal at this stage. He would go mad, but that was palmed off as jealousy.

“I wasn’t allowed any male friends. When I went out with my girlfriends, we had to go to where he worked and we couldn’t go anywhere else. We sat in the beer garden and he would look through peepholes.

“He would ask who I spoke to and who served me. I don’t drink alcohol so I would have a Diet Coke, but if it was in a tumbler he would go out to the staff who served me and ask what I was drinking.”

Jones’ behaviour became even worse when he had been drinking alcohol, which made Nicole fear for both her and her daughter’s safety.

Describing one encounter, Nicole said: “It was his birthday and he went out to Cardiff. I told him not to come back to my house as I didn’t feel safe.

“I told him to enjoy his night, but he told me he was going to come back. I said ‘No, I don’t want you to’ so that night I left home with my daughter and I stayed at my mother’s.

“He came back to my house in a taxi at 3am and, because I wasn’t here, he started banging and slamming my front door.

“He was walking around the street being a bit of a nuisance to the neighbours.

“All of this was being told to me over the phone at 3am. He was crying to a neighbour uncontrollably, he was awful. He came into my house and slept it off. The police were called, but they didn’t come out because he had calmed down.

“When I came back he was still asleep. When he woke he said, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll never drink again,’ and I believed him. He was so remorseful – everything you can think of this guy said to me and he did stop drinking.”

But the possessive behaviour continued when Jones was sober. Nicole described an encounter in work when Jones saw her having a cigarette with a colleague, which caused him to snatch the cigarette out of her hand and tell her to “get inside or f*** off home”.

She said: “He was a very jealous, manipulative and controlling person. If I went out I would have to send a photo of what I was wearing to make sure it was OK or suitable.

“If my baby’s father texted me he would have to know what I said via screenshots and if my baby’s father came to pick her up he would be listening from the upstairs window to what was said.

“I only look back now and realise how bad it was. At the time he was playing it like: ‘He’s your ex-boyfriend and I want to know what’s said.’ He said he had jealousy issues and anxiety because of past relationships.” On August 18 Nicole’s world changed for ever as Jones’ behaviour reached its violent zenith. Having resumed drinking he went on a night out with friends from work and when he returned at 4am with

If I went out I would have to send a photo of what I was wearing to make sure it was OK or suitable