A TEENAGER badly assaulted by her boyfriend told how she feared she would be killed during the terrifying attack in their home.

Paul Bradbrook was branded a coward by a judge after hearing the 22-year-old armed himself with three knives to scare his victim.

The 19-year-old is so traumatised she suffers flashbacks and has moved to a secret address, a court was told.

In a statement she said she felt "stupid and angry" for letting Bradbrook bully her for months before the sustained attack last month.

"I can't believe someone who was supposed to love me tried to kill me," she said. "I could be dead."

Teesside Crown Court heard Bradbrook also threatened to make the teenager watch as he burned down her family's North Yorkshire home.

The supermarket worker said he wanted her to see her father "suffer" after he argued with him and her uncle at a pub on December 19.

Two days later, after a drinking session, Bradbrook returned to the couple's flat in Northallerton, and dragged her through the kitchen, shoved her in the bath, called her "fatty", then threw a knife at her, the court heard.

Bradbrook switched on the shower, soaking her, before getting another knife and "jabbed" her in the stomach.

Prosecutor Paul Abrahams said the victim was repeatedly punched in the face and body, and placed in a choking headlock until she felt like her eyes were "popping out".

After Bradbrook picked up another knife, she managed to wriggle free and seek help from neighbours, said Mr Abrahams.

The judge, Recorder Abdul Iqbal, QC, was urged to suspend an inevitable prison sentence by Nigel Soppitt, mitigating, who said Bradbrook had started drinking heavily after problems with a childbirth and a bereavement.

"These were appalling outbursts, but a one-off incident. He knows he has got to stop drinking," he added.

Bradbrook, of Oliver Court, Northallerton, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was given a 12-month suspended jail term.

He was also ordered to undergo two years of supervision, carry out 250 hours of unpaid community work and pay the court costs of £535.

A restraining order banning him from contacting his now ex-girlfriend as well as her parents and siblings was also imposed by the judge.

The judge told him: "It's a fine line. It is because your youth and your good character that I am prepared to suspend that sentence.

"This, on any view, was a sustained and cowardly attack by you on your partner at the time. She clearly was petrified by your behaviour."