A MAN repeatedly attacked a woman in a five-year campaign of abuse, a court heard.

Andrew Ward appeared in the dock in a blue jumper yesterday charged with 10 counts of abuse.

Jurors in the trial at Oxford Crown Court heard the 35-year-old became ‘jealous, possessive and controlling’ and lashed out at the woman who was ‘too scared and embarrassed’ to tell the truth about her injuries to doctors and medical professionals.

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In the first alleged attack in 2012 she had been straightening her hair when he started kicking her in the ribs.

She said she had to go to the doctors after feeling like she was going to ‘collapse’ in pain.

Years later, she said she had been in bed when Ward came into her house in the early hours to check her mobile phone, ‘something he would always do’.

She said he got angry when he saw a message and grabbed the remote control for the television and tried to hurt her with it.

She told the court that he then picked her forcefully up and ‘dragged’ her across the room.

She started bleeding, she said, and had to ‘clean herself up’ with baby wipes, before sitting in a warm bath to ease the pain.

He apparently told her to clean herself up before the ‘kids saw the blood on the floor’.

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She told the court that she hadn’t gone to the hospital but instead self-medicated, saying: “How do you explain an injury like that to the doctor?

“It is really embarrassing.”

In another alleged attack, she said Ward grabbed her by the neck and threw her on the floor before repeatedly kicking her until she begged him to stop because her arm felt strange.

He apparently told her she ‘deserved it’ before saying: “It’s f***ing broken now you need to get it fixed.”

She said she was left with a fractured arm and ankle which she told the hospital had been caused by her playing with the dog.

In an alleged assault in July last year, prosecutor Graham Smith told the court that Ward had kicked her out of her house for playing a mobile phone game.

Neighbours called the police, who arrested Ward, of Ashdown Way, Grove.

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In an interview he answered ‘no comment’ and was let go on bail under strict instructions not to contact the woman.

But on the day he was released he messaged her on Facebook saying that they needed to meet or he would ‘kill the s***’ out of her, the court heard.

He said it wasn’t a ‘threat’, but was a ‘promise’ and ordered her to meet him in a field. She said they met up and he gave her bags of dirty washing so she could clean it.

She later asked police officers for help and a promise of safety.

They re-arrested Ward who answered no comment in a second interview. He denies two counts of GBH and assault.

The trial continues at Oxford Crown Court.

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