A WOMAN has spoken of her anger after her violent ex-boyfriend escaped a prison sentence.

Gemma Culling, also known as Gemma Clark, was horrified when her former boyfriend of nearly two years avoided custody after beating and headbutting her in the back of a car.

Ben Paul, 37 of Ludlow Road, Itchen, has been found guilty of assault by beating and received a three-month suspended sentence for the offence.

The mother-of-two, from Dibden, was left with a broken nose and two black eyes from the attack which happened after the couple had been to a party.

Southampton Magistrates Court heard how Gemma, a catering company owner, had organised a birthday party for one of her close friends and father-of-one Paul had been drinking all night.

During the night he had asked Gemma to slow dance with him, which she did for a while but then carried on dancing with her friends.

But when Gemma’s friend Karolin Jones gave them a lift home late on July 31, 2015, Paul decided to voice his upset at not finishing the dance.

Gemma told the Daily Echo: “It’s sounds really stupid but he obviously hadn’t let it go. He was very drunk and is known to be aggressive when he’s been on the bottle.

“We started to argue and then he just flipped, he changed into a completely different person and beat me to a pulp.

“It was terrifying. I honestly think if my friend hadn’t managed to pull him off of me he would have killed me.”

The court heard how 5ft 3 Gemma was beaten with punches all over her body in the back of the car at least 10 times as well as being headbutted by Paul.

Gemma added: “We managed to get him out of the car and drive away. It felt like something out of a horror movie, I was hysterical, screaming and crying my face covered in blood. I was shocked and heartbroken. I don’t know if I will ever trust someone or be able to be in a relationship.”

Southampton magistrates heard how Paul battled mental health issues and had three previous convictions related to violence and assault.

Gemma said the couple had met in 2013 on an internet dating website.

She said: “I wanted to go to the police to show that I’m not scared of him. What he did was totally wrong, nobody deserves to be headbutted and beaten. He attacked me like he was fighting a man.

“I’m really disappointed by the result, I feel with his previous convictions he should have gone into custody.”

Unemployed Paul was sentenced to a three-month suspended sentence for 24 months, a 24-month community order, a restraining order for two years to have no contact with Gemma Clark or Karolin Jones and banned from going to Corsair Drive, Dibden. He was also fined £350, with £100 compensation and £250 in court costs.