A mother who was tortured for seven hours and had her throat slashed in front of her twin sons has been forced to write to her attacker, and could face jail herself if she refuses.
Natalie Allman, 29, feared for her life as she was battered with a dumb-bell and required reconstructive surgery after evil Jason Hughes, 42, left her with deep lacerations on her neck.
The twisted former Territorial Army soldier attacked her because he wanted to make her look "ugly" after she dumped him.
Hughes was jailed for nine years in 2012 for the brutal attack at the couple's home in Ross-on-Wye, Herefords., which was witnessed by their twin sons.
But now a judge has ordered Ms Allman must send three letters a year to Hughes, updating him on their five-year-old boys, including photographs, every Easter, September and December.
The order has been made under parental rights laws, and if Ms Allman does not comply she will be in contempt of court, and could be imprisoned.
Ms Allman said: "We are the victims, not him. I thought he was going to kill me that night for no reason and my boys saw that. They were terrified.
"'I'm so angry that the law still defends his parental rights and that he is still being allowed to control us from behind bars.
"I couldn't believe it. I could end up being split up from my children and sent to prison when he was the one who attacked me. I'm the one being treated like a criminal."'
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On February 3, 2011, as Ms Allman lay in bed, Hughes launched the terrifying seven-hour attack on his ex, attempting to smother her with a pillow before repeatedly bludgeoning her with a dumb bell.
Ms Allman had told Winchester Crown Court how she had woken up to find Hughes sitting astride her hitting her with the weight.
He then used the blade from a mini-tool to slash a 20cm-long cut across her throat, narrowly missing her major artery by a few millimetres.
Hughes, who had received training with bayonets and knives as part of his Army training, only let Ms Allman call an ambulance seven hours later.
When officers arrived at the home they found the couple's terrified sons, then two, in bed with their mother and covered in blood.
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