A MUM today spoke of her anger that the violent husband who ruined her life was being released from jail after serving only half his sentence.

Anna Jones, of Blackburn, said she was the one enduring the longer penalty as she struggled to recover from the horrific ordeal she suffered at the hands of Aledwyn Jones, 45.

And Women's Aid called for longer prison sentences and more rehabilitative treatment to be handed out to the perpetrators of domestic violence.

Jones held a sharpened screwdriver to his wife's throat in front of their two sons and shouted "I am going to kill you" in August 2001.

Because of earlier incidents, there was a panic alarm at her home. She had managed to press it and police arrived just as he was about to slash her throat.

Jones was sentenced to five years in jail in February 2002 after admitting threatening to kill Ms Jones.

But Ms Jones has been informed by the Probation Service that he will be released in December -- to her fury.

Since the terrifying incident, she turned to drink and self-harm as she struggled to come to terms with the attack.

Some 18 months ago, she voluntarily put her three children, two who have special needs, into foster care because she could not cope.

Ms Jones is currently fighting Social Services' plans to have them adopted. Even though she acknowledges she cannot provide the care they need, she wants them to remain in foster care so she can see them.

She lost the home she shared with Jones in Richmond Terrace, Darwen. A year ago in a destitute state, she checked into the Salvation Army Hostel in Blackburn and has been there ever since.

The charity's staff have been helping her to get back on her feet.

She has enrolled on a specialist course to help abused women in Manchester and has managed to stay off alcohol. Ms Jones is even planning to embark on a criminology college course.

She is furious that as she was beginning to move on, she heard that her husband was to be released.

She added: "I feel like I have served the prison sentence. If it wasn't for the police and the Salvation Army, I would not be here, but everybody else has said 'oh Anna will be okay'.

"He has had such an easy life in prison and look at me. He will get all the help he needs when he gets out. They would rather help him than us.

"It was because of him all this happened and I lost my kids.

"He should have no human rights that man, but I won't be ignored."

Viviene Bickham, of Women's Aid in Blackburn, added: "Women's Aid would certainly advocate punishments to reflect the crime. When they get a sentence of five years they don't serve five years and that needs to be looked at at a national level."

A spokesman for the Probation Service said they were unable to comment on individual cases.