“WHACK!" Phil's head hit the banisters. His step-dad had thrown him against the staircase. Head split open, blood oozing down his teeshirt, thirteen-year-old Phil felt pain and fear - but not surprise. This was what "normal life" had been like for him for six years.
"My dad left my mum and us three children when I was three" Phil Tearle, now 29, explains. "The next four years I remember a lot of shouting and swearing but that wasn't too bad compared with what happened next when my step-dad came on the scene.
"It was always me that got it. Often I'd be shut in my room with the door bolted - I'd have to bang and plead to be let out to the toilet.
"Once he made me stand for seven hours with my hands on my head.
"But the worse thing was the sexual abuse which happened when my mum was out. It started when I was seven and didn't stop till I was 13. It made me feel so disgusted but I was scared to tell anyone."
In 1990, social services heard rumours about Phil's treatment and came to the house to investigate. Phil broke down and managed to talk about the bullying and abuse. His step-dad was sent down for five years and Phil was taken into care, losing contact with his family, apart from his twin sister.
"After the care system I was given a council room in Milton Keynes," says Phil. "I was an easy target for bullies. If you have a family you've got people to guide and guard you. I didn't have that. I hung around the wrong groups trying to fit in but I was bullied and manipulated."
One day, when he was 19, a friend gave him an address: "Some of the Jesus Army live there together, Phil - go and see them!"
"They were so different!" says Phil. "Through them I found God.
"I did fine for a while and then one day walking down the street some guys attacked me. I was so scared I decided to move to Northampton where I was born. I linked up with the Jesus Army there and got baptised. In the water I couldn't stand up, God's presence was so powerful!"
However Phil's troubles weren't over:
"A guy I was with got paranoid smoking weed and thought I was eyeing up his girlfriend. So he beat me up.
"I turned up for church all kicked and bruised. I was really surprised when the leaders asked if I'd like to see how I got on living in Christian community. I moved straight in - it was not a hard decision. In society at large most people seem out for what they can but now I'd found people who wanted to give rather than take."
Phil has now lived with his friends in the Jesus Army for ten years.
"It's not all been easy. It took me ages to trust and I used to have problems respecting myself. A lot of that's because of the abuse.
"God has used friends in community to give me back my confidence and respect for myself. I haven't always been easy to help but they've stuck with me.
"People love you and give to you but it works both ways - now it's my turn to care for others."
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