When I met my kind and charming partner on a dating app at 50, I thought I'd finally found my happily ever after. Then he revealed his dark side, broke my ribs and left me covered in bruises. I ignored the red flags...

After discovering her husband was having an affair, Sarah* feared she might never find love again.At 50, the pool of single and suitable men was increasingly shallow and, in a bid to put herself back out there, she turned to dating apps in search of a new partner. It was there she met Steve Burchett, 48, a kind and charming painter and decorator who showered her in compliments and flowers, healing the wounds inflicted on her by her husband's infidelity. Sarah, who runs a dog grooming business in Brighton, soon introduced Steve to friends and family, who found him friendly, gentle and - in the words of her sister - 'almost too nice'. But as Sarah would later discover, Steve was in fact a serial offender with a history of domestic violence against previous partners. During their nine-month relationship, he left her covered in bruises, broke her ribs, dug his fingernails into her skin, bit her in the face, strangled her, threatened to kill her dogs and sent a barrage of threatening voice and text messages. The campaign of abuse saw Steve sentenced at Lewes Crown Court in September to two years for controlling or coercive behaviour and 16 months for intentional strangulation, to run concurrently. He was ordered to serve one third of his sentence in custody and one third on licence, at which time he will be reviewed and may not have to serve the final third. A five-year restraining order was also put in place. Steve Burchett, 48, (pictured) was given a prison sentence at Lewes Crown Court in September for his campaign of abuse against his ex-partner For the first time, Sarah feels brave enough to tell her harrowing story, and wants to help other women look out for the subtle red flags she missed. 'He was very charming. He seemed a normal, caring person. He'd bring me flowers and did all the right things at the beginning,' she told the Daily Mail. The pair met in November last year, having both been in failed marriages and looking for love again. Steve had six children from previous relationships; three from his ex-wife, two from another partner and one 18-month-old baby from a third. He only had contact with his youngest, which Sarah described as 'limited'. 'That's a red flag, why doesn't he see any of them?' she said. 'The relationship with his ex-partner, with the 18-month-old, he was horrible and rude about her. They're all red flags and I just ignored it, thinking he's with me now and I can save him.' Steve slowly started moving his things into Sarah's home, bringing a new box of stuff with him each time he stayed over, she said. Before she knew it, his painting and decorating equipment was littered around her house. Breaking in and out of the 'nice guy' persona he'd adopted at the start, Steve - often after drinking alcohol - became very jealous, accusing Sarah of texting other men. 'Then it just kind of spiralled out [of control]; every time I spoke to somebody that wasn't a woman, he'd accuse me of cheating,' she said. 'He wanted me to do a system download where he could read all my messages that I'd deleted, and then wanted me to do a lie detector test.' What were the early red flags? Sarah listed a handful of red flags she pushed aside at the beginning, including:- Jealousy - Constant accusations of cheating- No contact with children - Speaking badly of previous partners- Being too nice Just three or four months after they started dating, Steve became physical with Sarah. 'Hitting, kicking, strangling me, pushing me to the floor, he broke my ribs, he kicked my doors in,' she said. 'But also awful text messages, awful voice notes, unbearable things that he said on text messages. 'He manipulated me into thinking I was the one in the wrong - I provoked him into kicking me to the floor and breaking my ribs. 'I made up so many lies about why I had bruises on me and scratches on me and stuff like that.' Explaining why she didn't seek help straight away, Sarah said: 'I think it's because I felt I could maybe try and help him, I wanted to get him out of that. Then he would rectify his nastiness by buying me flowers and being lovely, and promising it will never happen again.'Threats of physical violence also extended to Sarah's dogs, one of which became so anxious after Steve's abuse it requires medication. 'She was quite anxious anyway but she's been even more anxious over the last couple of months,' Sarah said. 'He threatened to put a blade to their throat, kill them, wished that my dad died of cancer and just awful things.' The abuse finally came to an end in August, when Sarah managed to get her phone to the bathroom before calling her ex-husband for help. 'We'd both had a drink, but he'd had a lot more, and I could see when things were going to turn. I could see his muscles tense up in his face, his eyes glaze over, and I was just like here we go,' she said. 'We were sitting in my home and he started going on about text messaging again, and this that and the other, and he took my phone off me. 'So then I just had to kind of placate him and pretend to be all nicey-nicey until I got my phone back, and then I went into my bathroom. 'Although he wasn't being violent at that point, I knew it was going to end up like that, so I called my ex-husband who lives [about] two minutes away from me, and he came up.' The next day, Sarah's sister called the police and convinced her to press charges. 'It was really difficult, it's still difficult thinking about it now, I still feel guilty,' Sarah said. 'I know I shouldn't feel guilty. He's done it to previous partners and if I don't put a stop to it he'll do it again. 'I'm a farmer's daughter; you get on with s***. I started up my own business last year; I'm a dog groomer, and I've had to cancel dogs. You can't be anxious around dogs, it just doesn't work. 'I had a panic attack; I've never had a panic attack in my life. That was scary, so I went to the doctors to get medication for that, and I've gone to counselling.' Reflecting on the relationship, Sarah said she had been vulnerable due to the breakdown of her marriage. 'My divorce finally came through in about June of this year, and my ex-husband [...] had an affair, so I kind of felt validated by Steve being so lovely and telling me I was beautiful, because I'd been rejected by somebody previously. It was hard then to believe that he could be so horrible,' she said. 'He got arrested at the end of August. In my head I don't want to be with anybody for an extremely long time, and I'm just concentrating on fixing myself at the moment.' Explaining why she decided to press charges, Sarah said: 'I'm not doing it just for me, I'm doing it for the women before me, who reported him and it didn't go on, and I'm doing it for potentially women in the future to protect them.' She added: 'I have to say Sussex Police were amazing, and that's kind of what I want to get out there as well: report it, and don't think that the police are going to dismiss it.'Sarah would also like to highlight Clare's Law - officially the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme - which lets you ask the police whether a current, former or new partner has a history of abusive or violent behaviour. *Sarah's name has been changed to protect her anonymity. Do YOU have a story? Email katherine.lawton@dailymail.co.uk What is Clare's Law? Clare's Law - officially the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme - lets you ask police whether a current, former or new partner has a history of abusive or violent behaviour.You can ask for yourself, or because you're worried about a friend or family member. The police check records and decide whether sharing information is necessary, lawful and proportionate.You can contact local police to make a request.