A woman said she was terrified her ex husband would kill her after a frenzied attack at her village home.
Debbie Walerysiak gave a harrowing account of the moment Paul Walerysiak, 52, set upon her in the kitchen of her bungalow in Woodplumpton, Preston.
Debbie was left with a deep wound to her neck, cuts to her arms and head and injuries to her forehead after a man she believes was her ex husband burst into her home in September 2012.
In a recorded interview shown to the jury at Preston Crown Court, Debbie told a police officer she and the defendant had been divorced for 11 years but there had been no history of domestic violence in their relationship.
Paul Walerysiak, of St George’s Road, Preston, denies attempted murder and wounding.
Describing the attack, Debbie told the police officer: “I was sat at my kitchen table with my back to one of the windows and the back door, rolling a couple of cigarettes.
“I turned to my right where the back door is and I thought I could see the handle going down very slowly.
“I kept my eye on the handle and started to get out of the chair, walking towards the door.
“I started panicking a little. I’m talking seconds. I moved over to the door. I could see the handle going down further. I did realise there was a person through the glass. Within seconds I realised it was my ex husband.
“He burst in and he was swearing at me. I didn’t know if there was anything in his hand. It was very frenzied, very quick. I didn’t know what was happening.
“I moved around the kitchen table. I ended up on the floor. He was hurting me.
“I just thought he was punching me - I didn’t know what was going on.
“I felt like I was being pummelled. He never let up from the minute he came through the door. It was relentless.”
Debbie screamed for help and her attacker left the house. She told the police officer she locked all the doors and pulled the windows to, terrified the man would return.
She said: “I knew by all this bleeding I could feel that I could end up getting killed.”
Under cross examination, Debbie told the court she had been married to Paul Walerysiak for 17 years and separated for 11.
She said there had been a few “ups and downs” over the years but there had never been any violence.
On the day of the attack there had been no contact between them, no argument or any threats made.
Phillip Parry, defending, suggested she was mistaken about the identity of her attacker but Debbie insisted it was her ex-husband who had attacked her.
Proceeding