Police said they had never seen injuries as serious as those suffered by a domestic abuse victim after a decade of beatings by her husband.

Officers wearing body cameras recorded the scene when they arrived at Gale Marmoy's home after she rang 999 pleading for help.

The footage shows her husband, Michael John Gregory, 77, answering the door at their Isle of Wight home and blocking the entrance before letting police inside.

They found his wife, known as Dawn, with a swollen face covered in black and blue bruises and her eye almost swollen shut.

In an interview with BBC Panorama about surviving domestic abuse, she said she thought she was going to die that night in October 2013.

Gale Marmoy with her husband in the police footage (Hampshire Constabulary)

“The last time he was punching me, I thought ‘this is it’, you’re going to die tonight. I was thinking of my children, my grandchildren,” she said.

“He just meant to do me harm, which he did, but I didn’t realise how much harm, I was terrified.

“They could see the emotion of how frightened I was. If they (police) had left that night and that camera wasn't on, and it had been a little bit later, they wouldn't have found me as they did, they would have found a body.”

Ms Marmoy felt her ribs crack as Gregory kneeled on her chest but he continued punching her, she said.

“My mind wasn't my own any more. I was frightened - I was frightened of the police, I was frightened of him, I was frightened of everything,” she added.

"He didn't seem to even think he was doing anything wrong. In his mind all he was doing was cooking me a meal.”

She allowed the footage to be released to show other victims that they can escape and rebuild their lives, urging them to do it sooner than she did.

Gale Marmoy is encouraging other women to speak out (Hampshire Constabulary)

Gregory was imprisoned for 10 years after pleading guilty to assault at Portsmouth Crown Court in May.

Ms Marmoy is supporting Hampshire Constabulary’s campaign against domestic abuse, which is encouraging victims to break their silence.

“You've got a life, and you deserve that life. These people make you feel worthless, completely useless; that’s not true. They deserve the punishment, you don’t,” she said.

Two women are killed every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner and more than a third of women will be sexually or physically abused in their lifetimes.