A man was left with horrific scars after his abusive wife poured a jug of scalding water over him after a rowed about household chores.
Ken Gregory, 65, suffered first and second degree burns to 14% of his body after the assault at his £295,000 bungalow in Peterborough in March last year.
A year on, pictures of his injuries show painful blistering stretching from his scalp to his lower back – and some of the scars will never fade.
His ex-wife Teresa Gilbertson, 60, is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent following the attack.
Mr Gregory has decided to speak out because he believes it is important to challenge the stigma surrounding men who are victims of abuse.
Retired BT manager Mr Gregory said: ‘Being attacked by a woman is nothing to be ashamed of.’
‘I had never imagined something like this would happen to me.
‘As a man who is a bit older and who isn’t exactly small, there is a perception that you can’t be a victim of domestic violence.
‘I was worried that people would assume that it was my fault and she was the victim – there is still a general perception that, as a strong man against a weaker female, you must have been the protagonist.
‘But it should be the same message that they put out for women many years ago: don’t be frightened, you don’t have to put up with it.’
The couple met through ballroom dancing following the death of Mr Gregory’s first wife of more than 30 years, Maureen, seven years ago.
But after five years of marriage, their relationship soured.
On the day of the attack on March 23, Mr Gregory had been due to take flowers to his late wife’s memorial to mark her birthday. Instead the couple rowed over finances and household chores.
Eventually, they reached an apparently mutual decision to get a divorce and Gilbertson had offered to make a cup of tea.
Mr Gregory, who has limited mobility due to arthritis, turned down the offer, but his wife left the room and returned with a jug of freshly boiled water.
Peterborough Crown Court heard she told him ‘there you go’ after tipping it over his head without warning.
It was the culmination of escalating verbal abuse. Three weeks earlier, Mr Gregory needed hospital treatment after Gilbertson threw a cup of tea over him while he slept, in what she claimed was an accident.
When police arrived following the final incident, Mr Gregory said she told officers: ‘If I’d wanted to kill him, I’d have used a knife.’
Reliving the incident, Mr Gregory said: ‘I was sitting with my back to her and it came without warning.
‘It was unbearable, searing pain – I’d never known anything like it.
‘Afterwards I could barely sleep as I couldn’t lie on my back.’
Experts told the trial that the pattern of the injuries showed the water must have been poured deliberately – and not by accident.
Mr Gregory said: ‘From the start, the police took it very seriously and even our mutual friends were able to see that I was the innocent party.
‘If other men find themselves in this position, I would say don’t be embarrassed or ashamed – my case goes to show that this can happen to anybody.’
Detective Inspector Mark Woolner, from Cambridgeshire Police’s domestic abuse unit, said the force has specially-trained officers who support both male and female victims of domestic violence.
He said: ‘Men affected by domestic abuse often feel that they won’t be taken seriously, but this simply isn’t the case.’
Gilbertson will be sentenced on March 24 after being found guilty earlier this month.
