Haunting CCTV footage shows the terrible state a battered girlfriend was left in after she was starved, beaten and abused by her lesbian lover.

Lyndsey Vaux was described as looking 'like the elephant man' during years of horrific treatment at the hands of Becky Reid, whose repeated attacks led to Lyndsey's death in May.

Reid was jailed for life for murder today and ordered to serve at least 20 years behind bars.

The court had heard how mother-of-one Miss Vaux appeared malnourished and bruised before she died with 90 separate injuries. She had lost half her weight and was just eight stone.

She was pictured, looking desperate and drawn, as she bought a lottery ticket in a local shop on the day before her death.

Lyndsey Vaux was abused and mistreated by girlfriend Becky Reid for years. Haunting CCTV images from a local shop show her beaten and malnourished the day before her death

Becky Reid (left) has been jailed for life for murdering her Miss Vaux with repeated attacks. Pictured, right: Lyndsey Vaux before she entered the abusive relationship that would lead to her death

Neighbours told how Miss Vaux was seen being dragged by her hair as Reid screamed abuse at her in the streets where they lived in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

In one incident, the victim was kicked in the face by Reid for mistakenly bringing home salad on her burger and chips.

One neighbour told jurors she 'looked like she was dead already,' and another said Miss Vaux looked like she had been in a car accident, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Judge tells victim's daughter: 'Your mother still loved you' The court heard Ms Vaux fell into the abusive relationship after losing contact with her daughter five years ago. The schoolgirl was at court today to see her mother's killer jailed. Judge Mansell told the youngster, now aged 12: 'I'm sure that deep down she still loved you. 'You must remember your mother did not abandon you, she was taken away by the actions of another person. 'Everything I have heard is, she was a really decent, kind, loving human being.' Miss Vaux's daughter Alyiah outside court with her grandmother. They said they were pleased her killer had been jailed but would never forget Miss Vaix Advertisement

Jailed Reid, Judge Richard Mansell QC told her: 'You took control of Lyndsey's life to such an extent that she gradually withdrew from family and friends. It is perfectly clear that she loved you, but she feared you and your violent temper.

'You manipulated her emotions whilst justifying your own behaviour and you delivered regular and sustained beatings to her.

'You controlled the purse strings in that house and put yourself and your mother first - effectively starving Lyndsey who had to beg and forage for scraps of food. The violence you committed towards her was frequent, sustained, brutal and merciless. It was an exercise in control, dominance, punishment and denigration.'

'She was too frightened to defy you, stand up to you or fight back. She was too frightened to accept the help offered her by the police and many locals and she was simply terrified to leave you. You have displayed no remorse for your actions.'

Neighbours would witness the starving victim being kicked, punched and dragged along the floor by Reid during regular attacks in the street.

She would be seen limping with bruises to her face and also developed a 'cauliflower ear' due her swollen and green face and would flinch in pain when a friend tried to cuddle her.

But despite offers of help and police being alerted by worried friends and locals, Lyndsey would protect her violent girlfriend and falsely claim she had been in accident or been attacked by someone else and no action was taken against Reid.

Miss Vaux had told a friend the beatings were getting worse in the weeks before she died

In the run up to her death, Lyndsey had confided in a friend saying: 'I'll be honest with you. Becky has battered me a few times it's been going on for years but it's got worse these last few months. it was just when Becky got angry but it's getting worse.

'Every couple of days I get a crack. I've got Becky hitting me and the mum is just stood there letting it happen saying that I was the one in the wrong. Sometimes I get a punch or a couple of kicks, once I got pushed down the stairs.'

She told another: 'I do get on her nerves and she just snaps.'

During the five week trial, Reid's ex-girlfriend Samantha Newns, 37, came forward and gave evidence at Manchester Crown Court and told how she too was beaten up to 50 times by her her during their relationship but had been previously too frightened to make a complaint against her.

The court heard Reid had also been harassing another woman via Facebook after trying to strike up a relationship with her.

Another victim of Reid, Samantha Newns, and Ms Vaux's mother celebrate her jailing today

Setting out the case against Reid, the prosecutor said: '[Neighbours] told how Lyndsey would regularly ask them for money, and how she would always be hungry and thirsty.

'She would also often be seen walking around the streets in the local area without shoes or appropriate clothing, sometimes in flip flops and T-shirt in pouring rain.

'She would appear to be trying to get back into the house, and it would seem that somebody within was refusing her entry. She constantly had bruises to her face and there were times when she had difficulty in walking.

'Her health and physical well being went rapidly downhill in the last months of her life. She became more and more gaunt and at times was seen devouring food as thought she had not eaten for a long time.

Reid's mother Gillian, 57, was found guilty of assaulting an ex-partner of her daughter

'One store manageress saw Lyndsey climbing into the large bins at the back of the store, removing food that had been discarded owing to it being past the sell by date.

'She also saw her in the early hours one morning on her hands and knees collecting cigarette stumps from outside the shop. On the night she died she was seen sat on the corner of a street without any shoes on.'

Reid's mother, Gillian, 57, was cleared of murder, but was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to a former partner of Reid, Samantha Newns.

She was given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months.

Judge Mansell told her that although she had been cleared of murder she bore a 'significant degree of moral blame' for Miss Vaux's death.

Speaking after today's hearing, investigating officer Bob Tonge said 'Lyndsey Vaux was subjected to years of horrific domestic abuse at the hands of her girlfriend, and no decision made here today can bring her back.

'Some neighbours knew about this abuse and did nothing. Had they given us the information that they gave us after Lyndsey's murder then we could have saved her life, and this should act as a stark reminder that we all have a responsibility to stand up to this kind of crime.

'We're working extremely hard to tackle domestic abuse in the LGBT community, having introduced a specific recording method to track it and taking our front line officers through training on how best to support victims, but we do need the public's help to continue to tackle domestic abuse in all of our communities.

'My thoughts are with Lyndsey's family at this difficult time, and I hope this sentence goes some way to finding them justice.'