A woman who claims she was throttled, butted, punched and kicked by her husband during a two decade-long campaign of violence said she could not leave him because she was so in love.
Corrina Cox said that despite the fact her partner, David, would lash out at her without any warning, she desperately wanted to make things work – and believed that one day his “violent outbursts” would stop.
Mrs Cox gave evidence for a second day during his trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court – where she was asked why such a “sensible” and “intelligent” woman would agree to stay with a man she claimed abused her so much.
Cox, a 63-year-old oil worker, is accused of repeatedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend, and later his wife, for more than 24 years.
His wife claims he pushed her from a moving car, assaulted her when she pregnant and pinned her down on a bed and strangled her.
Yesterday, Mrs Cox told the court about the first time her husband lost his temper with her, before she agreed to move into his home at Banchory.
The 43-year-old – a retained fire fighter and ex-nurse – said she had lost count of the number of times he had attacked her since then.
Cox husband’s defence lawyer, David Moggach QC, asked why she agreed to move in with his client if she had doubts about his temper, never mind agree to marry him.
“Deep down in myself, I prayed that he would change,” she said.
“I really, really loved him.”
Mr Moggach also asked why she never confronted her husband about his behaviour, nor why she never confided in anyone about what was happening to her.
He suggested that the “spur of the moment” outbursts she had spoken about were not as bad as she was making out.
“Can I suggest that they were not of the type that would cause you to say ‘that’s enough, I’m getting out of this’?” he asked.
“The relationship was bad and there was a lot of violence,” she told him.
The court also heard from Mrs Cox’s mother, Rhona Trigger, who said she had no idea about the alleged abuse her daughter had suffered until police were called in last year to investigate.
But she said her son-in-law, who now lives at 32 Woodcock Court, Stonehaven, had admitted to her that he had done some “terrible” things.
GP Mike Steven, from the Banchory Medical Group, also gave evidence, telling the court how Mrs Cox had sought help for a large bruise on her hip.
He said she told staff that she had tripped – but Mrs Cox told the court that her husband pushed her into an outdoor tap in their garden during one of his rages.
The trial, before Sheriff Graeme Napier, continues today.