A millionaire property heiress has spoken of the horrific attack she suffered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, after he was jailed for 21 months.
Chloe Pidgley, 26, described ‘screaming and crying’ during the ‘horrendous’ attack by convicted thug and drug dealer Antonio Henry, 29, who burst into her Earl’s Court home and punched and kicked her in the face.
He hurled a chair and an oil radiator at a terrified Ms Pidgley, and slammed a door on her hand as she tried to flee, leaving her with two broken fingers after the attack last June.
Antonio Henry, 29, punched and kicked Chloe Pidgley, 26, in the face during the sickening attack in Earl’s Court, west London , on 18 June last year
Chloe Pidgley, 26, was beaten around the head with a radiator at her London flat. Her attacker threatened to return with acid during the incident in Kensington
Today Ms Pidgley, granddaughter of Berkeley Homes founder Tony Pidgley, told the Evening Standard that Henry ‘wouldn’t leave her alone’ when she broke off their four-month relationship.
Five days before the assault she confronted Henry over messages he sent to her, her sister and mother, but he followed her and ‘smashed up my house’, she said.
She heard a smash at her home in Earl’s Court and found Henry standing in her bedroom when she went to investigate.
She said: ‘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.’
Henry then threatened to come back and carry out an acid attack.
Ms Pidgley, who was taken to hospital after the attack, said: ‘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.’
She told the paper she had not been able to return to her job as a receptionist since the attack on June 18, and has 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.’
Tony Pidgley is the founder of the famous property developer Berkeley Homes and thought to be worth a staggering £310million
Her mother, Denize Hewitt, had revealed that her receptionist daughter called for help mid-attack, telling The Sun: ‘She screamed down the phone’
Yesterday Judge Hannah Duncan jailed Henry for 21 months after he admitted assault and criminal damage at Isleworth Crown Court.
Ms Pidgley, who was in court to see Henry sentenced, broke down in tears as the judge passed the sentence.
Henry has a long history of convictions dating back to 2003 mainly for offences of violence including assault causing actual bodily harm.
His record also includes offences of battery, harassment, threatening words and behaviour and conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Henry, of Ealing, admitted assault occasioning actual body harm and criminal damage. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
A restraining order preventing him from contacting Ms Pidgley was also issued.
Henry, of Gunnersbury Avenue, Ealing, admitted assault occasioning actual body harm and criminal damage
Both Chloe and her model sister, Chantelle, reportedly received a ‘coming of age’ sum of £1million each
Her mother, Denize Hewitt, had revealed that her receptionist daughter called for help mid-attack, telling The Sun: ‘She screamed down the phone.
‘I dialled 999. I thought she would be dead.’
A Met spokesman had said at the time: ‘Police were called at 20:05hrs on Monday, 18 June to a residential address in Warwick Road, Kensington and Chelsea, following reports of a female resident having been assaulted.
‘Officers attended with LAS [London Ambulance Service] colleagues.
‘The victim had been at home at the time; after hearing a smash, she went to her bedroom and discovered a 29-year-old male, who was known to her, had broken into the premises.
‘The male then attacked the victim before fleeing the scene.
‘The victim was conveyed to a central London hospital where her injuries were deemed not life-threatening or life-changing.
Tony Pidgley is the founder of the famous property developer Berkeley Homes and thought to be worth a staggering £310million.
Both Chloe and her model sister, Chantelle, reportedly received a ‘coming of age’ sum of £1million each.