Baby killer Aaron Goodman was a drug addict who attacked a pregnant girlfriend and later tried to kidnap their daughter.

The 27-year-old was jailed for life yesterday after a jury found him guilty of murdering one-year-old Sam Back, son of his partner Emma.

It was not the first time he had been a threat to a child.

Last night, a former girlfriend broke down as she described how he snatched their four-week-old daughter while on drugs seven years ago.

She told how Goodman stole from family and friends to feed his spiralling habit and even smoked cannabis while she gave birth.

The woman, now 25 and living in Brighton with their seven-year-old daughter, branded Goodman "pure evil".

She said: "Thankfully, a neighbour caught him. My daughter could have been his first victim.

"If he had got away I don't know what might have happened to her."

The woman has rebuilt her life and is now engaged.

She asked to remain anonymous to protect her daughter.

Goodman's current girlfriend Back was yesterday found guilty of wilful neglect and conspiracy to prevent a burial.

Baby Sam was found in his cot with a ruptured colon two weeks after he had died at the couple's flat in St Leonards, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Last night, Goodman's former girlfriend told how their three-year relationship began in 1992 after they met in a West London nightclub. She was just 15.

She said: "I was very young and innocent when we met and he probably took advantage of that.

"My family thought he was scum from the start but I was in love with him and thought I knew better.

"My mum used to hate him - I wish I had listened to her then."

Goodman, who was working as a greenkeeper at a golf club, had a comfortable upbringing and loving parents, according to the woman.

But he began abusing drugs and started to drift into bad company.

She said: "He was fine for about the first year, then he started smoking cannabis.

"It got so he was smoking almost £20 worth of cannabis a day. He just descended into this world of drugs and crime.

"He was stealing hundreds of pounds from his family. He pawned his grandmother's gold jewellery to pay for drugs and stole from his own mother."

When she became pregnant aged 17, they got a flat in West London but Goodman, who had started taking heroin, was becoming increasingly violent and erratic.

His former girlfriend said: "He once saw a doctor and they gave him tablets to try to help him off the drugs but he never went back.

"I was pregnant and I was more concerned about my baby than what he was getting up to."

During this time, their relationship began to founder and she said he beat her badly at least once, leaving her with a black eye.

Four weeks after she left hospital, Goodman went to see his daughter.

His former girlfriend said: "She was in her crib and I was making a cup of tea. Aaron just snatched her and disappeared.

"A neighbour caught him and grabbed the baby back before he could get far. I was just hysterical because he was mad with drugs."

Police were called but Goodman was not charged.

However, the mother of his daughter went to court at the start of a four-year battle to keep him away from their child.

Finally, she moved out of London and eventually came to Brighton in an attempt to put Goodman behind her.

Now engaged and with another child, she thought she had succeeded until yesterday. She said: "I saw his picture on the front of The Argus and just froze. It brought it all back. He is pure evil."

She has little sympathy for 22-year-old Back.

She said: "How could she have left that poor baby dead in his crib for two weeks?"