I never thought of him as old, except when people in the street shouted 'paedo'

THE schoolgirl of 16 who ran off with a jobless GRANDAD has dumped him after a year - because he was a violent drunk who beat her up.

Lisa Wright suffered months of being KICKED, PUNCHED, THROTTLED and SMOTHERED by Glyn Trowbridge, 46, after leaving her shattered family to move in with him.

Now back home, she confessed: "I was stupid - and I'm so sorry for the suffering I've caused my family. I wish I'd listened to all their warnings"

"He turned into a monster when the thrill of the sex had faded. And if I had known I was going to spend all this time getting battered I never would have left home."

Lisa, now 17, sparked a police search when she disappeared from school a year ago. She was discovered living with divorced Glyn, who she had met at a family party.

The youngster refused to return home, insisting she was in love with the "caring and sensitive" dad-of-six who has four grandchildren.

And astonishingly pretty Lisa claims she STILL LOVES the gap-toothed beast 30 YEARS OLDER than her.

Beatings

"I saw him as handsome and a lovely person," she says. "I never thought of him as old - except when people would see us together in the street and shout 'paedophile' at him.

"But I took so many beatings from him I can't even remember half of them. In the end you have to be brave and leave."

Lisa was seduced by Trowbridge, a family friend, in February 2008. She was so smitten she disregarded how sickening her behaviour was to parents Angela and David and sister Jemma, 20.

"It was my idea for us to run away. I loved him," said Lisa. "It was heaven at first and the sex was great. We had lots of it - several times a day.

"His ex-wife Sharon warned me he had a drink problem and was abusive. I didn't listen."

But Sharon's words were to ring in her ears when the couple moved from the temporary love nest Trowbridge had set up in Ilford, Essex, back to his grubby council flat in their home town, Dagenham.

He had promised Lisa a £400 engagement ring and a wedding in Barbados. Instead what she got was violence.

"We were both living on benefits and in the flat together all day," sighed Lisa.

"Then he started drinking really heavily - and one day he flew into a rage, punching me in the stomach, ribs and kidneys before throwing me out the front door by my hair."

Lisa fled to a cousin's, only to return when Trowbridge begged her to come back. But soon he was attacking her again.

"He'd accuse me of cheating on him. He'd smash my head against the walls," says Lisa.

"One time he went to strangle me. I ran into the kitchen and got a saucepan. I hit him around the head thinking 'please pass out'. I hit him so hard the handle snapped.

"Another time he punched me on my chin and it swelled to the size of a baseball."

Then Lisa says the violence escalated - he tried to suffocate her with a pillow.

"We had a row and I shut myself in my bedroom. He kicked the door in and I went flying. He grabbed me and put the pillow down over my face with a lot of force.

"I couldn't breathe and felt myself blacking out. I thought I was going to die. I was kicking and kicking, and finally he got off. He grabbed me by my hair again and threw me out."

Lisa admitted: "I went home to my mum about five or six times. She would cry and I'd feel terrible."

"But when Glyn was sober he was amazing. He would make me big fat fry-ups and serve them in bed. He would buy me necklaces handbags, maybe flowers."

Jealous

The turning point came when the lonely battered teenager met a new friend friend - a girl about the same age - in March. "It felt so good to have someone my age to hang out with," she says. "We'd go to the park, go shopping, jump on the trampoline.

"Glyn hated it. He got very jealous. It's when I realised I was done for good. I'm not going to live my life scared of my partner's rages."

Now she's back home. She smiled: "I'm starting to repair my relationships with my family. I am going to go back to school.

"But I don't totally regret this last year. It has made me stronger. I can only hope Glyn is going to sort his life out too."

Last night Trowbridge confessed: "I have hit Lisa a few times, but she has hit me too. I still love her.

"I'm no paedophile. I have problems with drink - but I am trying to sort it out."

IF you are experiencing domestic violence, call the 24-hour National Domestic Violence Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247.

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