FORMER radio DJ Suzie McGuire broke down in tears as she told a court she tried to kill herself to escape a "life of terror" at the hands of her husband.

The 45-year-old sobbed as she told a jury at Paisley Sheriff Court she downed a cocktail of alcohol and pills to get away from Derek Mitchell's continual beatings which had left her broken.

Ms McGuire, who was diagnosed as suffering from post natal depression in November 2012, said she overdosed last April.

"It was an exit route, it wasn't a cry for help. Every day it was like putting a mask on and going to work."

Ms McGuire - who married Mitchell in October 2010 - said he went from being her "Prince Charming" to a "Jekyll and Hyde" character.

And she said that Mitchell, a huge Rangers fan, also assaulted her in front of Mike Ashley, the club's latest investor, in December 2011.

She made the admissions while giving evidence against Mitchell, who is on trial accused of repeatedly assaulting her, threatening her and verbally abusing her between March 2009 and October last year.

As she revealed she had tried to commit suicide, trial Sheriff Susan Sinclair asked Ms McGuire - who resigned from her post as Clyde One drive-time host last month - if she wanted to have a break.

But the DJ composed herself and replied: "It's fine, I'm just emotional. I don't recognise that person any more. I would have left my children without a mother. I was subjected to beatings and torture in every way.

"Emotionally, he broke me down, physically, he beat me up and mentally I had absolutely nothing.

"I ended up in a high dependency unit and intensive care.

"The doctors told my mum my internal organs had failed and I probably wouldn't make it.

"I honestly don't recognise now that person but that's the person I became living with Derek Mitchell. He was just an angry, vicious man.

"I lived in constant fear and terror of what Derek had threatened. I lived a life of terror."

She described herself as "a battered wife" and said she struggled to juggle being a working mother and providing for her family while being abused behind closed doors.

She said: "The four years are just a blur - it's all welded together.

"I didn't really tell anyone in the four or five years it was going on for various reasons. I didn't want to embarrass my husband, I had three babies and another one on the way.

"I was under a lot of pressure - it was harder to hide bruises and harder to keep making up excuses.

"After it came out I felt like I could breathe and I could tell everyone, 'This is what's happening'. People think, 'Oh she's on the radio, she must be really confident'.

"But I was a battered wife with four children, I was the sole provider and my mum depended on me. I was broken by it."

Ms McGuire told the court she did not tell anyone about the abuse she was suffering before eventually confiding in Michelle McManus in a car journey to a 60th birthday party they were both working at.

She explained: "I don't know where but I got some strength from somewhere and I decided enough was enough."

McGuire said her marriage with the 35-year-old accountant finally came to an end in July last year, on her daughter Daisy's 7th birthday.

She told Amanda Gallagher, prosecuting, that he was "removed" from their marital home in Glasgow's Eaglesham area by three police officers and his parents following an incident.

The trial, before Sheriff Susan Sinclair, continues.