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A lorry driver from Herne Bay who was battered and abused by his wife for years has opened up about how he thought every night could be his last.

Tony Hannington spoke out for the first time since his ex Tracy was jailed for two years in October for her campaign of violence and abuse against him.

He wants to give strength to other men suffering domestic abuse and insists there needs to be more services available for male victims.

The 56-year-old told how Tracy would frequently physically attack him, often picking up whatever came to hand to use as a weapon, including a vacuum cleaner and ornaments.

On one terrifying occasion, he said: “She put a knife against my neck in the kitchen and said, ‘I want to stick this right in you now’.”

'I’ve been hitting you for months – you ain’t got a set of b*******'

(Image: Phil Harris/Daily Mirror)

Chilling recordings he secretly made and later gave to police reveal the level of abuse he suffered, reports Mirror Online.

In the audio, shrieking Tracy tells him she wants to stab him, barking to her husband, “you know I would do it”, after he had spent the day with friends.

She tells him she will “take him off this planet”, that she “doesn’t care” if she does 25 years in jail for murder.

She berates him, calling him “weak and spineless”.

“If you want to live, stay away. I promise I will put a knife in you,” she says, adding she will set fire to their flat, which he lived in before they were together.

“You said once I was capable of murder. Well, I am. There’s nothing manly about you, you’re pathetic. I absolutely hate you,” she yells.

In another recording, Tracy can be heard slapping him, shouting: “What are you going to do about it? I’ve been hitting you for f****** months – you ain’t got a set of b*******.”

(Image: Facebook)

In another, after Tony had spent the day helping his niece move house, furious Tracy can be heard calling him a “weak little man” and “pathetic” after threatening him.

She can be heard smashing up Tony’s aftershave bottles and throwing things at him.

As he tries to stop her from cutting up his bedding with scissors, she says: “If they go in you, they’re going in you to kill you.”

Reflecting on the recording, Tony said: “That’s tame.”

And he said the mental abuse was as bad, if not worse, than the physical.

(Image: SWNS)

The pair married in June, 2013, having met six months earlier.

At first, it felt like they were “made for each other”, Tony said. But less than a year later, the abuse started after Tony spilled oil on to a kitchen curtain.

He said: “She started shouting abuse at me and it just spiralled from there. It got gradually more physical.

“First punching and hitting in the chest and arms.

"Then, one day, I was laid on my bed and she straddled me and started punching me in the face and head.”

(Image: Kent Police)

Tracy would cook Tony dinner and then take it away from him and feed it to their dogs.

The pair ended up in separate bedrooms.

“I never knew what she would do,” he said. “Once, I woke up at 3am to find her standing at the end of the bed staring at me.

"I honestly thought each night could be my last. Every morning I’d wake up and think, ‘I’m still here’."

Tracy was jailed for two years at Canterbury crown court and will have a three-year restraining order when she is released.

Now Tony believes there should be more help and support for male victims of abuse.

He was turned away by two centres, because they did not cater for men, before he found the Poppy Centre in his hometown, which caters for all kinds of abuse.

He added: “There needs to be a better support network.”