The family of a woman murdered by her ex-boyfriend agreed to let a city daily to publish photographs showing the abuse she suffered at his hands.

Kerri McAuley’s family gave permission for the Norwich Evening News to run a picture of her with a black eye inflicted upon her by Joe Storey, who would go on to kill her in an attack which left her with multiple facial lacerations and a torn ear.

The photo was published initially on Facebook by the mother-of-two after a previous assault by Storey, but her family allowed the NEN use it on their front page ahead of his sentencing.

Storey was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday after being found guilty of Ms McAuley’s murder last week, and will serve a minimum of 24 years.

Judge Stephen Holt described it as “one of the worst cases of domestic violence that have come before these courts”.

Ms McAuley’s uncle Steven Roberts told the EDP the family was urging those involved in a violent relationship not to suffer in silence.

He said: “It’s just about getting the message out there for us.”

NEN editor David Powles told HTFP: “Our crime correspondent Peter Walsh has worked really hard over the past few months to build trust with the family of Kerri McAuley.

“Once the guilty verdict had been passed they were happy for us to publish the series of photos in the hope that it might prevent similar tragedies from happening.

“It must have been very hard for the family to see the subsequent front page and I think they deserve a lot of praise for being brave enough to allow those photos to be printed on the basis that if it just saved one person from going through the same, it would be worth it.”