A VICTIM of rape and coercive control spoke about her harrowing ordeal in court.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, described her treatment at the hands of convicted rapist Andrew Ford in Brighton.

He repeatedly attacked her, putting her in a choke hold to overpower her.

Hove Crown Court heard how the woman suffered ongoing abuse at his hands, including being punched, kicked, and slapped.

She said: “I was scared of him, it was a nightmare.”

On one occasion she described how Ford forced her to have sex on the day she had returned from having an abortion.

Then on another occasion she said Ford punched her in the stomach while she was pregnant.

Ford then called the police and accused her of threatening to stab him.

She suffered a miscarriage in police custody after he hit her, she said.

In court she said: “He punched me so hard I had a miscarriage. Everything I was going through caused the miscarriage.

“I was distraught. I didn’t think he would hit me while I was pregnant.”

The victim described the repeated violence towards her at Ford’s hands.

In the witness box she said: “He was strangling me, he punched me in the solar plexus, I couldn’t breathe, I thought I was going to die.

“I got sick and tired of him constantly hitting me.”

Jennifer Gray, prosecuting, revealed that the specific choke hold used on the victim was the same one Ford used when he attempted to rape a second woman in Pavilion Gardens.

Video footage showed him dragging the second victim into bushes.

A police appeal to identify Ford was shared by The Argus, and the first woman recognised him and identified him to officers.

She then described her ordeal, and explained why she had not previously pressed charges.

The woman told the jurors: “It is the biggest regret of my life not carrying on with a police report.

“For me it was overcoming what I had gone through, it was about not allowing another woman to go through what I had to go through.”

Ford, 23, was found guilty of rape and coercive control, and had also admitted attempting to rape a second woman in Pavilion Gardens in June last year.

When asked about his behaviour on the night he said: “I was frazzled by that point. I was drunk as a skunk, looking for somewhere to urinate or vomit.”

Judge David Rennie has ordered a legal test into how dangerous Ford really is before he passes a sentence.

The judge said: “I am satisfied that most people listening to the facts see he [Ford] is a dangerous young man.

“You are going to prison. It is going to be a long sentence.

“You have caused irreparable harm to another woman.”

Ford, formerly of Bramble Way, Stanmer Heights, Brighton, faces sentence next month.