WHEN Natalie Clark, 23, of Tewkesbury, reported her boyfriend Daniel Holliday, 31, to the police after he attacked her while she was pregnant, she was sure he'd be jailed for the sick attack.

But after he avoided a prison sentence earlier this month, the terrified mum-of-two now she lives in fear that he'll breach his restraining order and come after her. Here she bravely shares her story...

TIPTOEING out of my bedroom, I scooped up my bag and dropped my phone inside before closing the door to the sound of snoring.

I dodged a large pair of trainers, jeans slung over the armchair and even the odd pair of balled-up socks to get to the front door.

The mess should have left me fuming. But I honestly couldn’t have been happier.

I was leaving my new boyfriend Daniel Holliday (31) tucked up in bed while I went off to work.

We were in that blissful honeymoon period where his stuff had just found its way into my home despite him having not actually moved in - yet.

We had met a couple of months back in August 2016 through a mutual friend. I loved how chatty and fun-loving he was.

But that wasn’t the only thing about Daniel that had me hooked. I had my suspicions he was a bit of a bad boy after a pal warned me off him.

“Just be careful,” she warned. But her words had practically gone through one ear and out the other.

Around three months into our relationship, I noticed changes in Daniel. He became snappy, argumentative and quick to get angry.

One day he pulled out of a pub quiz we had been looking forward to at the last minute. I went with my family instead, which riled him. When I came home, he was in a foul mood and a row quickly escalated.

“I’ll snap your f****** jaw,” he spat. I stumbled backwards, shocked at the way he spoke to me.

Daniel quickly apologised and we were back on track. But a bombshell soon after led to us being separated for months on end.

Unbeknownst to me, Daniel was arrested and charged for assault after breaking his ex-partner’s collarbone. He was jailed for six months.

When I visited him he told me he’d lost it in a moment of madness and vowed to change his ways when he got out.

When the day came I was expecting us to spend lots of time together. But he was out partying day and night.

When I confronted him about it, he offered up a bizarre ultimatum.

“If you have a baby with me I’ll change,” he said.

I’d always wanted a family, ever since I was little, so I said yes.

Weeks later, I took a test and it revealed I was pregnant. I was thrilled and couldn’t wait to meet our baby.

One night in October, when I was three months gone, I was cooking Daniel’s tea when he seemed prickly and restless.

I kept a distance but then he accused me of cheating, which was completely ridiculous.

As I passed his plate to him, his eyes suddenly went dark. “You just shoved it at me,” he hissed, backing away from the plate.

“What?” I gasped. “No I didn’t.”

To my horror, he lunged at me and punched me right in my bump.

I screamed, clutching my stomach. I saw blood on the floor, so I ran to the bathroom and checked my knickers.

There was blood between my legs.

Daniel stormed out, leaving me to beg my mum to take me to hospital.

I was so under Daniel’s spell I found myself covering for him, telling Mum and the medics I had bled by chance rather than admit the truth - that my boyfriend had punched me.

Thankfully, a scan showed the baby was fine.

Daniel said he was sorry but a second attack was imminent. He became controlling and demanded to listen in on all my calls.

At five months gone I was on the phone to a friend when he said he wanted to monitor the conversation to check I wasn’t on the phone to another man.

When I complained he grabbed me by the throat and throttled me. I became floppy and dizzy, terrified I might pass out or even die.

When he let go I fell to the floor and gasped for air.

I ended the relationship after that, for the sake of our baby. But Daniel bombarded me with texts saying how sorry he was.

In June the following year, I welcomed our daughter Ivy Rose into the world. Having promised he would change his ways, I allowed Daniel one last chance.

But it wasn’t long until Daniel was back to his old ways again. He went out loads and forced me to FaceTime him at odd intervals.

“Show me the room,” he demanded. At that I would have to hold my phone up to prove another man wasn’t with me.

It was so degrading - but the worst was yet to come.

One night in November last year, when our daughter was a toddler, he became paranoid I was having an affair. I protested endlessly that I wasn’t, but it only made him more angry.

In a split second, Daniel raised a fist and punched me in the face. I fell backwards in agony.

At that moment, I became angrier than I have ever been.

“Get out!” I raged.

Stunned, he walked out. I was too scared to call the police at first but after he kept sending abusive texts I reported him on December 1.

The process of reporting the violence I endured felt like forever. Finally he was hauled in front of a judge in January and charged with two counts of assault and one of criminal damage.

During that time, I moved house several times to protect myself and Ivy Rose. Visits were monitored when he had our daughter.

One time he threatened me outside work and shouted horrific abuse at me.

When the court date loomed, he sent me a sickening Snapchat selfie with our daughter in too, captioning it: “It’s a hard life black eyes & that,” with two laughing emojis.

I prayed he would face jail time, but I was wrong.

Earlier this month at Cheltenham Magistrates Court, he admitted the charges and was given a five year restraining order, ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £460 to the court.

It was pathetic and made me realise I was the one who had the tougher sentence.

Now I suffer with anxiety so badly I pass out. I also fear Daniel will breach his restraining order and find me.

With the help of my family I’m slowly getting over my ordeal. I’ve also had another little girl, Amelia Rose.

The relationship didn’t work out but I’m a happy single mum-of-two. I’m hoping by sharing my story it will help raise awareness of domestic violence.