Meet the Mother Who Got Beaten up to 30 Times a Day by Her OWN Children

The bond between a mother and her children is supposed to be unbreakable, but Pauline Bubb's kids turned her into a prisoner in her own home. The 47 year old single mum from Southampton, was beaten up to 30 times a day by her daughter Sapphire, nine, and regularly locked herself away in her bedroom to escape from harm.

Her son Spencer, 11,who often joined in with the abuse, was the first to violently abuse his mother - aged four, he stabbed her in the stomach with a pair of scissors.

The only one of her children who didn't resort to violence was Sapphire's twin sister Jorja, who would often leave the room when the beatings started.

Unable to cope, Pauline turned to Channel 5 as a last ditch attempt after hearing about their new programme, My Violent Child.

In an interview with the Mirror today, she said: 'I was frightened of my own kids - my legs would often be bruised and I had to keep them covered.'

The violence got so bad that Pauline started to dread her children coming home from school and would start shaking as the clock started to move towards 3.30pm.

The aggression would often start as soon as they walked through the front door, with the attacks escalating to the stage where Sapphire once bit her face.

In one incident, Spencer attempted to strangle his mother from behind while she was sat in a chair.

But while Spencer's behaviour calmed down once he was diagnosed with ADHD, Sapphire's continued to worsen.

Pauline said: 'She started off two years ago with controlling behaviour - she would ask me a question like, 'Can I have a packet of crisps?' but then say 'Yes Sapphire'.

'Then I had to say it, but exactly how she wanted me to. I couldn't say it too fast or too slow, I had to stand still, I couldn't move, I couldn't blink and she would repeat herself 20 or 30 times.

'If I said no, she would get louder, start swearing and hit me.'

Although many people would find it incredulous that Pauline allowed the abuse to escalate over a number of years without getting any help, she explains that she was too embarrassed to do anything about the situation.

Pauline isn't alone - the number of violent young children in the UK is rising steadily, with 118 boys and girls under the age of 14 prosecuted for domestic abuse in 2012/13.

After contacting the makers of My Violent Child, Pauline and her children started working with parenting experts provided by the television station and Pauline says she has seen a dramatic improvement in their behaviour.

She now puts their aggression down to the fact that there were few rules in her household for the children to abide by, leaving them feeling insecure.

She told The Mirror: 'I was inconsistent. I had no boundaries and had lost my parental control.' (Mirror)