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A woman was arrested and charged with 'controlling behaviour' after asking her bodybuilder husband to help out around the house.

Valerie Sanders, 58, from Catterick, North Yorkshire, claims all she did was ask Michael, 58, to ditch some of his gym sessions and to Hoover and clean the patio doors.

However, she ended up spending 17 hours in a cell and then faced charges of controlling behaviour.

Her case was thrown out before it went to trial.

Speaking to The Sun, Valerie said she was "treated like a criminal" for asking her other half to clean more.

She claims he spent most of his time at the gym and didn't do anything around the house except wash his car.

Valerie says she left notes for Michael asking him to do chores.

(Image: Facebook) (Image: Facebook)

In April last year, four police vans then arrived at her door and she was charged with “coercive or controlling behaviour”.

Coercive control is when a person with whom you are personally connected, repeatedly behaves in a way which makes you feel controlled, dependent, isolated or scared.

It became a crime in 2015 in order to combat non-physical abuse.

This week the case collapsed just minutes before the trial was due to start.

Valerie said she's had "14 months of hell" and thinks "it's outrageous this ever got to court".

Michael responded saying: “I’m not sure if she should have gone to court or not. That was not my decision – but she was controlling. She was constantly on at me.

“She used to leave the vacuum out or the polish and wanted me to clean every day because of the dogs.”

The coupe wed in 2014 after meeting online two years earlier.

(Image: Facebook) (Image: Facebook)

Valerie said Michael became "obsessed" with bodybuilding after getting a job as a gym manager when he was made redundant from his role as a CCTV operator.

Cleaning boss Valerie said: “He was training all the time. He was eating five or six meals a day and mushing up all his food in the blender.

“We stopped going out for meals. I was working and he was at the gym from early in the morning until late at night. I just didn’t see him.

(Image: Facebook)

"He started to do bodybuilding competitions. It wasn't attractive. It was like cuddling an ironing board. He started to take Viagra, blaming the steroids.

"But when he took the tablets it made him sniffy and snotty so I refused to sleep with him."

Michael said he needed viagra because of a hormone issue and that Valerie had been supportive of his bodybuilding before changing her mind.

Police were called to their home in April 2018 after Jobcentre staff noticed Michael's mood had changed and he blamed it on his home life.

(Image: Facebook)

(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

Mr Sanders defended his decision to speak about it saying: "She was constantly on at me. She used to leave the vacuum out or the polish and wanted me to clean every day because of the dogs."

But Valerie denied she 'coercive or controlling behaviour' saying: "I'd leave a note asking him to vacuum parts of the house and clean the patio doors. We have two miniature dachshunds. But he would spend four hours cleaning his car - so of course I complained.

"Surely it isn't controlling behaviour otherwise every married couple would be in court?"

The pair are now in the process of divorcing.

The CPS said: “We prosecute cases where there is sufficient evidence of coercive and controlling behaviour. In this case, after a key witness decided to no longer support the prosecution, we concluded there was no longer sufficient evidence."