Property heiress Chloe Pidgley tells of brutal attack by ex after she broke up with him

A property heiress told today how she was left screaming for mercy when she was brutally assaulted by her ex-boyfriend in a “horrendous” attack at her west London home.

Chloe Pidgley, 26, was punched and kicked repeatedly in the face by Antonio Henry in her own bedroom, when he refused to accept that their relationship was over.

He hurled a chair and an oil radiator at a terrified Ms Pidgley, and trapped her fingers in a door when she tried to escape, Isleworth crown court heard.

Henry yesterday admitted assault and criminal damage on the first day of his trial, and was branded a “coward” as he was jailed for 21 months.

Ms Pidgley, the granddaughter of Berkeley Homes founder Tony Pidgley and an heiress to the £310 million family fortune, said the attack came after she broke off a four-month relationship with Henry and he “just wouldn’t leave me alone”.

Five days before the assault she confronted Henry about messages he had been sending to her, her sister and mother, but he followed her and “smashed up my house.” she told the Standard.

Describing the attack at her home in Earls Court, Ms Pidgley said she heard a “smash” and found Henry standing in her bedroom when she went to investigate.

“I was screaming and tried to get out of the room and that is when he slammed my fingers in the door,” she said.

“The attack was horrendous. I was screaming and crying and he was punching and kicking me, hitting my head.

“I couldn’t move or breath. Even with blood everywhere he still wouldn’t stop.

“At one point I stopped screaming and tried to plead with him.”

Ms Pidgley added: “I couldn’t even fight back because it seemed there was no point, so I stayed lying in the foetal position.”

She was in court to see him jailed yesterday, and said she was “over the moon” that her ex-boyfriend is now behind bars.

“I feel so much safer now,” she said. “I’m so happy. I just feel like it’s a fresh start.

“I don’t think I realised how much it affected me.”

She added: “It is not fair anyone has had to go through this situation. At one point I cared about this person.

“It has really opened my eyes to how many women go through this and have abuse in their lives.”

Ms Pidgley said she has been unable to return to her job as a receptionist off the King’s Road since the attack on June 18 last year, and has since taken part in marches to raise awareness of violence against women.

“I could have been killed. Women are dying every day in abusive relationships,” she said.

“It wasn’t about the sentence. It was about teaching him a lesson and showing other men that it will not be tolerated. That behaviour will be punished.”

Her sister, model Chantelle Pidgley, 27, said: “Chloe has been really stressed but she has come out of it feeling there are people on her side.”

The court heard Henry, from Ealing, has convictions dating back to 2003 including for assault, battery, harassment, making threats and dealing class A drugs.

He is now banned from contacting Ms Pidgley under a restraining order imposed by the court.