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The brave ex-wife of sadistic killer Colin Hill has spoken out about her battle for justice 33 years after he kidnapped and raped her.

Hill, 61, is due to be sentenced on Wednesday for a string of terrifying attacks on Janet Cameron in the 1980s.

He went on to murder stable girl Leanne Scott, who he knifed and strangled on her 17th birthday before shooting her in the face with a shotgun cartridge he had carved her name on.

The psychopath later told police that at the time of the murder, in April 1987, all he could think about was Janet’s face and how much he hated her.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

After years of threats and beatings, Janet had managed to escape the monster but, weeks before killing Leanne, he abducted and raped her.

Three decades on, she backed a fresh prosecution of Hill for a string of attacks on her.

Waiving her right to anonymity, Janet said: "If I can help one woman then it will be worth it.

"I want to let them know that even after all these years you can do something about it.

"I lived with this for 33 years, not knowing I could take action because at the time I was told a wife couldn’t give evidence against her husband."

Grandmother Janet has gone public after campaigners said there were 16 suspected domestic abuse killings in the first three weeks of the coronavirus lockdown, more than double the average rate.

Now 54, she told police about the abuse she suffered at Hill’s hands.

She had given statements to detectives about the attacks at the time of Leanne’s murder but Hill was not prosecuted following his murder conviction.

Three decades on, Cambridgeshire Police’s Det Con Elaine Penniket built a case against Hill using Janet’s original evidence and her medical records from the time.

She also tracked down witnesses to Janet’s abduction, which led to Hill pleading guilty at Peterborough crown court earlier this month. Under the new name of Martin Cooper he admitted rape, kidnap and three counts of ABH.

Janet, who is furloughed from her job making complex car parts, says she is a different person from the meek teenager who Hill targeted in the early 1980s.

(Image: Unknown)

Sitting in her garden in Sawtry, Cambs, the village where she met the killer, Janet said: “We didn’t know about grooming in those days but that’s what it was.”

After marrying in 1984 aged 18, Janet soon fell pregnant but daughter Clare died in Great Ormond Street hospital with a heart defect days after being born.

It was during her pregnancy that Hill launched the first attack that he will be sentenced for, viciously kicking her in the stomach with his steel-capped boots.

Janet said: “He ripped the clothes from me and beat me while I lay on the floor trying to protect my stomach.”

Health records recorded the injuries she had suffered including strangulation marks on her neck, but no action was taken by the police.

Janet managed to break free from former Hells Angel Hill in 1987 after he vowed she would never leave him.

He reacted by going on the rampage, smashing the windows of a house Janet was hiding in with their other daughter when she was just a baby.

Hill was held by police overnight so she could collect her possessions but he was released without charge.

Janet said: “He was the one who was allowed to stay and I had to leave. That’s how it was. There was no support for women in those days.”

Hill went on to abduct and rape Janet after taking her on a terrifying car ride through the same countryside where he would soon kill Leanne.

Janet had agreed to meet him in a busy pub but he forced her to get into his car. She said: “That’s when I knew I was in trouble.

"You could just tell when he turned, I knew I was going to get a beating. His eyes would change, they would go black and his whole demeanour would alter.”

Hill told Janet he planned to keep her for a few days and then decide what to do with her.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

She said: “I could see he was going to kill me. I was that close to being his murder victim, that’s what fuelled his attack on Leanne, it was meant to be me.”

Although she suspected he had a knife and his shotgun, Janet kept calm and persuaded Hill to take her to a pub to so she could use the toilet.

She escaped by running behind the bar and locking herself in the landlord’s car.

A few weeks later, on April 13 1987, Hill murdered Leanne after luring her to a pub on her birthday.

He was a friend of her dad Tim and the family were guests at his wedding.

Leanne, who lived for her horse Solo and dog Holly, was found dumped on fenland a mile from her home.

Hill told police at first that he dropped her off after they had sex but was arrested when he tried to escape in a hired car.

He later said: “All I could see was my ex-wife’s face and how much I hated her.”

Hill denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was convicted at Northampton crown court.

He got an 18-year minimum term.

Mr Justice Leggatt told him: “You pose a grave threat to the public. You are a sadistic psychopath.”

Leading psychiatrist Charles Hunter said Hill harboured no feelings about Leanne. He said: “All he felt were massive feelings of anger and hatred towards his wife.”

Despite this, the parole board cleared Hill for release in 2018 only for him to be recalled to prison for breaking his conditions of licence.

Janet has been backed by Leanne’s sister Kelly, 47, after the pair bonded over their shared desire for justice and concern at Hill’s release.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

Kelly, who was 14 when her only sister was killed, said: “It was Leanne’s birthday last week. She would have been 50 and I never stop thinking about what she would have been like.

“I know she would have made a difference in this world.

“Leanne was just the kindest, sweetest girl and she wouldn’t have suspected a thing. Colin Hill should never see the light of day again.”