A MOTHER has thanked the Andover community that has “put her back together” after her husband was jailed for sexual offences.

Sharon King’s ex-husband Stewart Blackwell, 55, was sentenced to 26 months in prison last July for assaulting a girl under the age of 16.

After 13 years together she found herself reporting him to the police when she saw text messages confirming his crimes.

The mother-of-five, 35, had to pick up the pieces when he was sent to prison.

Seven months on she has lost five stone and wants to thank the Andover community for the help they have given her to be strong for her family.

“It was the worst day of my life,” she said of the moment that she found the text messages, “I couldn’t believe that he could lie to my face all that time.

How can you live with somebody and not know what is going on?”

Describing the aftermath of the police investigation, the supermarket customer assistant said: “I shut myself away for a couple of weeks. My biggest paranoia was that people would think that I knew and they would judge me as a person. I didn’t know a thing; it made me question everything.

“I was expecting to get egged and have ‘pervert’ written on my door, but I didn’t. Everybody has helped me and I want to put it out there. There is so much negativity about Andover but the community support has been brilliant, I cannot fault anybody.”

With the help of her family, friends and employer, Sharon decided to become fitter and stronger by dropping four dress sizes.

She joined Slimming World at the British Legion Club and now gets up at 5.20am six days a week to go to Alexei Roberts’ bootcamp at The Phoenix Centre in Pilgrims Way.

It also took six months of weekly appointments with Julian Chen at New Street Dental Care to restore her teeth as she had not seen a dentist for 20 years since breaking a tooth in her teens.

Talking about her motivation, Sharon, of Launcelot Close, said: “I have always been big, I was a size 18 when I left school so I have never had the best confidence.”

A size 24 when she joined Slimming World, she added: “My goal was to get down to an 18 so that I could buy clothes from a normal shop and now I’m a 16 – I love it.

I’ve got so much more energy.”

Reflecting on her success, she said: “I am proud of myself but I couldn’t have done it without my mum and my family. Everybody has been a shoulder to cry on and like a rock supporting me through it. They have put me back together.

“I just want to thank everybody for all their patience, compassion and understanding and for just being there.”

Sharon and her family are now preparing for Blackwell’s release later this summer after serving half his sentence.

She concluded: “I hate him for what he has done.

“When it first happened I couldn’t see a way through but now I can see a future.”