THE former wife of a man jailed for stabbing his girlfriend 14 times has spoken out about his violent behaviour and told how she warned his victim prior to the attempt on her life.

Lorraine Woolven said she had to leave Brighton out of fear of her ex-husband of 12 years, Christopher Woolven, after years of physical abuse.

Ms Woolven, 37, a cleaner, told The Argus she had warned Woolven’s girlfriend, Danielle Morrison, about the abuse she had been subject to herself during a dispute over them getting a divorce.

When Miss Morrison subsequently broke up with him in August this year, he attacked her with a knife.

He stabbed her in the face, arm, leg and stomach at the flat they shared in Marine Parade, Brighton, and left her for dead.

On Saturday The Argus reported he had been sentenced to 19 years having pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Ms Woolven said: “I told Danielle that he will only beat her up and she said ‘no he will not because he loves me’.

“I thought he loved me and our children but all I came away with is broken ribs.

“So in a way I am lucky and my children are safe.

“We got married in May 2002 and we moved from a one-bedroom flat to a two-bedroom flat on Christopher’s birthday.

“Five days later our second son had turned six months old when Christopher started to turn violent.

“He hit me with a Hoover pipe.

“I thought it was a one-off thing and didn’t think of it until it became a regular thing.

“That’s when I left him and took him to court and got custody of my kids and an injunction so he could not come near me or the two boys we had at the time.

“He started to harass me, threaten me, asked me to take him back.

“He said if I didn’t he would burn my flat down with me and the kids in it.”

The couple got back together after Woolven promised the violence would stop.

But in 2003, Ms Woolven said the abuse started again when they found out she was pregnant with their third child.

She said: “This time he turned for the worse and started on our kids as well as me.

“I was scared to get out because of what happened last time.

“I had three children and had just found out I was pregnant again with our fourth child, so it was more difficult to get out.

“Everyone has said that I had a lucky escape from him.

“We had five beautiful children but it didn’t stop him from hitting us.”

The pair first met when Ms Woolven was seven years old.

She said she remembered going out with his mother and father to the park and to Sunday school with the Salvation Army.

The couple lost touch but when she was 19 she reconnected with him and they started a relationship in July 1999.

The mother of five added: “Some women don’t know how to get out and what help is out there.

“Some women are scared to lose their kids and just keep quiet and hope it will stop but it doesn’t, it gets worse for them.”

Woolven, 39, stabbed Ms Morrison on August 2 after she broke up with him.

The 23-year-old had gone to collect some belongings from the flat. Woolven was waiting for her in the kitchen and he attacked her with a kitchen knife.

She was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, in a serious but stable condition and has since been released to recover from her injuries at home.

After pleading guilty to attempted murder, Woolven was sentenced to 19 years, 14 to serve in prison and another five on licence, at Lewes Crown Court on Friday.

Speaking after his sentencing, Ms Morrison said: “When I went to collect my belongings, I would never of thought someone who I was with for seven years was capable of something like this, especially someone who claimed they ‘loved me’. I was so scared of not being able to escape and never see my family again.

“I have mental and physical scars as well as losing all my confidence, I constantly fear the worst when I go out now. I just hope after this sentencing I can try and move on with my life and focus of my future. It’s going to take a long time to get over what has happened to me.”