A woman whose ‘knight in shining armour’ was a devil in disguise says his violence and bullying was so extreme that she even agreed to humiliating intimate ‘checks’ to prove she had not slept with other men.
Fearing for her life, mother-of-three Hannah Martin, 32, from Northampton had ‘mentally said goodbye’ to her children after she suffered months of coercive control and physical attacks at the hands of Hayden Wykes.
The cleaning firm boss was abused by Wykes, 27, for a total of 18 months, before he was jailed for three years and nine months.
Hannah Martin thought she had found the perfect man, but it didn’t take long before Hayden Wykes revealed the monster that he was
Wykes was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court in January 2022, after admitting assault and coercive control.
Hannah said that she was tied to him ‘like a puppet on a string’ until a three hour assault in February 2021, when she was left with broken ribs, finally saw her sever ties for good.
Hannah secretly reported Wykes to the police and is now campaigning for other victims of domestic violence to report their abusers, saying: ‘I just knew that I was going to die the next time and I had to protect myself. I couldn’t take anymore.
She says it was a risk because she feared the trouble she would face if Wykes had caught her reporting him, but is ‘glad’ that she did.
Wykes inflicted three hours of torture on single mum Hannah, even breaking her ribs by throwing her over a sofa
Hannah now wants other victims to that they can speak out and that they will be supported.
She now feels empowered and says she’s ‘not scared now – not of him.’
An accomplished woman, when Hannah met Wykes, a friend of a friend, in July 2019, she was celebrating her 30th birthday with friends at a local pub.
Having recently split up with her children’s dad after their love turned stale, his attention came as a welcome ego boost.
Hannah was having a good evening chatting and drinking gin when she met the lovely ‘intelligent’ and ‘intuitive’ Wykes.
‘He was so interested in me, which drew me in,’ she recalled.
She now realises that he was just sussing her out to see how vulnerable she was, and she ‘fell for it hook, line and sinker.’
So possessive he would check her phone’s location settings every day and control who she spoke to, Wykes even insisted on smelling her intimate areas to make sure she had not cheated on him
As a single mum, she was not expecting romance, so when Wykes, who was jobless, wanted her number, she was flattered.
Hannah had just had a baby and thought no one would be into her as she was ‘very insecure’ making her the ‘perfect candidate’ for him.
To begin with, Wykes was the perfect man; great with her kids and attentive.
She soon fell in love with him and ‘craved’ a wholesome family atmosphere, which he provided for her.
She said: ‘I thought he was my knight in shining armour.’
But Hannah, who says Wykes was always at her house but did not move in, claims that within weeks he was chipping away at her confidence.
After violent assaults he would gaslight her into believing she was responsible for his behaviour
Wykes told her that she was a bad mother and ordered her to clean the house, he even told her that she didn’t know to do her own make-up and said that she was fat.
The real warning of what lay ahead came in August 2019, when Wykes shoved Hannah to the ground because he thought she had looked at another man.
She was ‘hysterical’ and asked him to leave, telling him that she didn’t want him in her home.
However, Wykes managed to turn the tables, playing the victim and wormed his way back in, begging for Hannah to get back with him and apologising.
Hannah become more isolated from her family and friends as she was embarrassed after telling them about ‘this amazing guy I’d met, but it wasn’t true.’
‘He made it feel like it was my fault, he twisted it all,’ she said.
‘He’d even tell me he wouldn’t hit me in the face, or that he’d hit me harder because I was bigger.
‘But whatever he did, he always made it feel like it was my fault. And he wore me down until I believed him.’
A master manipulator, according to Hannah, however badly he treated her, he was brilliant with her youngest son.
Hannah said that seeing Wykes with her son pulled at her heartstrings.
But his violent outbursts, fueled by jealousy, continued.
He even slapped her so hard he burst her ear drum and threw her into the stairs at Christmas, alleging she had cheated on him.
After violent assaults he would gaslight her into believing she was responsible for his behaviour.
Every time he hurt through jealousy or paranoia he would be apologetic and ‘charming.’
Hannah’s self esteem was so low by now she was trapped in his vicious cycle.
So possessive he would check her phone’s location settings every day and control who she spoke to, Wykes even insisted on smelling her intimate areas to make sure she had not cheated on him.
Hannah said: ‘His jealousy was completely insane.
‘When I went to work one time he thought I was cheating. He checked my underwear. He would check everything.
‘He’d check the bins for beer cans and cigarettes.
‘He would smell my lower areas, leaving me feeling awful and degraded. I’m so angry with myself that I let that happen.’
Hannah met Wykes in July 2019 when she was celebrating her 30th birthday with friends at a local pub and, having recently split up with her children’s dad, his attention came as a welcome ego boost
Hannah said that she was left without the confidence she needed to leave.
Then, in late 2020, fueled by jealousy, he phoned Hannah’s neighbour thinking she had been speaking to a man, only to hang up when he heard a woman’s voice.
Concerned that it was a cry for help, the neighbour called the police and Wykes was arrested in the early hours in November 2020, after Hannah finally told them about the pattern of abuse she was being subjected to.
Hannah said that she was terrified when speaking to the police and the repercussions that Wykes could inflict, but she knew she had to.
However, sadly, she did not yet have the strength to see things through.
She admitted that she couldn’t face speaking to the police properly or go through the court proceedings; it felt like an easier option to get back with him.
But it was at least a step in the right direction and she met a female police officer, who she says saved her life.
Released after 24 hours, Wykes was banned from contacting Hannah, but they rekindled their romance in secret a month later.
Hannah now says she was so worn down she felt like she ‘couldn’t breathe’ without him.
She admits that she made contact with him after a month of not hearing from him.
Saying that she forgot all the bad times that he had put her through, all she could think about was the good and for a few weeks says that he was ‘wonderful.’
But the violence soon began again and this time she felt unable to tell a soul, because of their secret meetings.
Driven to the brink of suicide after another unprovoked attack in May 2021, she was so tormented she did not know which way to turn.
She said: ‘Bruises and bones do heal, but the mental torment drained every part of me.
‘His behaviour had become so normalised that when he hit me, I’d tell myself, it wasn’t that hard.’
Hannah said that she was terrified when speaking to the police and the repercussions that Wykes could inflict, but she knew she had to
Things came to a head on February 21, 2021, when Wykes unleashed an unprovoked three hour assault on Hannah, breaking her ribs and beating her until she was left, nearly unconscious on their bed.
Suddenly, he stopped saying he would never do anything to hurt her.
Hannah remember that he put his hand on her head stopping her from breathing and squeezed her cheeks so hard into her mouth they bled.
She was unable to escape because he kept shouting at her and then he punched her in the ribs.
Hannah was screaming for help but was told that she was being too noisy then was asked if she ‘wanted to be killed’
She made a run for the stairs window but Wykes threw her over the sofa breaking her ribs.
Hannah believed that she was going to die and remembers saying goodbye to everyone in her head including her children.
‘I’d never been so close to death. It changed me as a person.’
Driven to the brink of suicide after another unprovoked attack in May 2021, Hannah was so tormented she did not know which way to turn
Realising that she would not survive the next attack, a week later she bravely contacted the police officer who had helped her before at Northamptonshire Police’s domestic violence unit in secret, begging for help.
Yet she still felt crippled by guilt, saying: ‘This is why it’s so hard to get away.
‘After months – years for some victims – of coercive control, you feel like you’re in love with your attacker, like you can’t breathe without them.
‘But I would have died if I’d stayed with him.
‘I had to protect myself, for my children.’
Hannah who received the news of Wykes’ imprisonment over the phone, felt empowered when she heard his sentence.
Hannah is grateful to the police officer who helped her as without that support Hannah doesn’t know what she would have done
Now she is determined to encourage other victims of domestic abuse to report their attackers.
She now looks for the positive things in the world and feels stronger for it.
Without the police offer who helped her, Hannah doesn’t know what she would have done.
Hannah, who thought she would never be able to trust a man again, has even started dating and says her new boyfriend has been her rock, as she has recovered from her ordeal.
She said: ‘Hayden Wykes degraded me and knocked the confidence straight out of me. It took me months and months to look into the mirror without needing to cry.
‘But I’m now in a new relationship. It’s completely unexpected, but he’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time and he is helping me to rebuild myself.
‘He’s shown me what it is really like to be loved.
‘No one should settle for less.’