A woman was in court to watch her husband sentenced for burning down her home - the culmination of 34 years of domestic violence and his second arson attack.

Shirlee-Anne Cook, 57, said she had struggled to decide whether or not to go to the public gallery at Aylesbury Crown last Tuesday, but said she needed "closure".

Her estranged husband, Brian Cook, 60, was sentenced to six years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in two years and seven months, but will remain on licence for life after his release.

Mr Cook had pleaded guilty to arson and recklessly endangering the life of a neighbour, David Gumb.

Mrs Cook said: "I'm glad it's all over and done with. I came because I wanted to know why he did it. I still don't know why, but I know how he did it. Everything about him frightens me - he's a monster.

"I'm totally shocked. I thought he deserved life, that's what I was expecting, not only for me but for my neighbours - they are still living in fear of him."

The court heard that Mrs Cook, a sales manager, was a long-suffering victim of domestic abuse. She said she had suffered broken noses, broken legs, a fractured skull, broken teeth and even lost the her middle finger on her right hand when she raised it to defend herself from being attacked by a broom.

Her finger was broken, but had to be amputated the following day because of an infection.

Mr Cook has 16 previous convictions for 26 offences including grievous bodily harm, aggravated bodily harm and arson.

On the morning of Sunday, February 4 this year, neighbours reported seeing a fireball bursting through the front door of her semi-detached bungalow in Cherry Tree Avenue, Holtspur, and thick acrid smoke pouring from the windows at around 6.30am. The cottage suffered 100 per cent damage.

Mrs Cook and her West Highland terrier Snowy were staying overnight with friends for a shopping weekend in London.

She returned on Sunday to find everything she owned destroyed.

The court heard that Mr Cook, a painter and decorator, had been told in a pub on Saturday night that his wife was away in Thailand with another man.

He became angry and returned to his former home at around 6am on Sunday morning with two green petrol cans.

He used a stone from the garden to break windows in the lounge and second bedroom, poured petrol into the rooms and lit it with a cigarette lighter.

Neighbours David Gumb and Sharon Brown were woken by an explosion when the television blew up. They saw the house burning and ran outside to alert neighbours.

The court heard that Mr Gumb found Mr Cook standing nearby with scorched hair. He told him "You'd better get out of there mate." When he Mr Gumb asked "Is Shirlee in there?", Mr Cook replied: "No. She had me put in a home just before Christmas so I've f****** torched it."

Susan Drummond, prosecuting, also told Judge Seddon Cripps that Mr Cook told police officers and ambulance technicians. "I did it. I did it. I'm fed up. I've burnt my house down. I'm fed up with my wife, she's gone to Thailand."

Mr Cook is registered disabled after suffering a stroke in 2003. He continued to attack his wife despite his limited mobility until she had him moved to housing association accommodation in December 2006.

He had been diagnosed with depression, but claims that he had consumed a large quantity of sleeping pills before committing the arson were unsubstantiated.

Mrs Cook's home was not insured as she was unable to get a policy because of her husband's previous arson conviction.

He burned down their home in Ealing on December 22 1991 after an argument. He was sent to prison for 20 months, but astonishingly the couple reunited after he was released.

Juliet Donovan, defence for Mr Cook, said they had a "very unhealthy, horrible, co-dependent relationship which spiralled into revenge and jealousy."

However Mrs Cook said: "I took him back because I never knew what he was going to do. At least if I took him back I knew where he was."

She said he had often hidden in the house to attack her, sometimes staying secret despite police searches. "He would come out of the wardrobe or the loft and attack me. He hit me in the face with a brick once as I walked into the garage."

After returning home from London to find her home destroyed, Mrs Cook, a mother of two from a previous marriage and grandmother of seven, says she was forced to live in her car for a week because friends were too afraid to house her in case her husband was bailed and attacked their home.

She is now living in a small bedsit in Slough, but her house is about to be rebuilt with funding from a housing association. Her determination to return could see her move in by Christmas.

In a parting shot to her husband, Mrs Cook used a £1,000 anonymous donation put through her letterbox shortly after the fire to take holidays to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Brunei, Burma, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand and sent hate mail postcards to him in custody.

Her messages included: "Hello s******, look where you could have been if you hadn't blown up the house" and "I bet you don't get views like this from your window where you are now".