Ben Butler's ex-girlfriend described him as 'pure evil' and revealed how he beat her with a metal pole and was convicted of strangling her in 2005

Ben Butler's ex-girlfriend feared he would kill her during one of his violent rages when his face became contorted with 'pure evil'.

Hannah Hillman, 32, told police the killer's eyes became 'small and black' and he would almost foam at the mouth before meting out one of his vicious beatings.

The former girlfriend said Butler once gave her a 'good hiding' with a metal pole and sent terrified drinkers running from a pub as he repeatedly punched her in the face.

After the savage assaults Butler would go into a 'babyfied state', rocking back and forth, sobbing: 'I'm sorry, this isn't me.'

When they split, he was so furious that he kicked and punched her in public in broad daylight, she said.

'His eyes would turn smaller and black. His whole persona changed and then he would hit me every answer I gave,' she said.

'I think if he could of I think he actually would have killed me. He used to lose control so quickly I don't think he could help where he hit me.'

Miss Hillman's statements can be revealed after Butler was jailed for 23 years today for murdering his daughter Ellie while in a fit of rage.

The controlling 36-year-old beat Ellie Butler to death at the family home in Sutton, south London, before concocting an elaborate plot in a bid to get away with murder.