A domestic violence victim is calling for a change in the law to stop abusers lying about being attacked in order to get legal aid for divorce court proceedings.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked by his wife on several occasions as his relationship broke down.

Medical evidence from his doctor shows his injuries include being hit on the side of his chest, being punched in the head, scratched in the neck and stress due to her behaviour.

But as he wanted to protect her at the time he did not call the police and they are now unable to prosecute for common assault as any prosecution for this crime has to take place within six months of the offence taking place.

Despite being the attacker, she is the one who managed to get a non-molestation order in court after she alleged he attacked her.

He said she has done this as people with non-molestation orders (NMOs) are entitled to legal aid no matter how much money they earn, without providing evidence or swearing an oath.

Figures obtained by the man from Purley, using the Freedom of Information Act and court details from his old MP, shows the number of NMOs has increased since the legal aid cuts were introduced in April last year.

He is calling for the process in getting an NMO to be changed so victims have to produce more evidence and swear an oath in court.

He said: “Domestic violence is important and we must deal with it.

“If it is a criminal offence to breach these orders then it should be a criminal offence to get one in the first place by lying.

“We are pushing the Ministry of Justice to stamp down on it and require the person to give evidence under oath.

“Then if the other person can prove at a later stage that it is a lie then you can to the police station and bang to rights you are done for perjury and providing the course of justice.”

The victim said his old MP was promised a Ministry of Justice investigation into the abuse of NMOs in March and Croydon South MP Sir Richard Ottaway wrote to the justice secretary asking for an update on October 20.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Where people have suffered or are suffering from domestic violence, we have made sure legal aid is available to help them break free from the abusive relationship.

"Non-molestation orders are an important form of protection for those suffering or at risk of domestic violence.

"We fund applications through legal aid regardless of an applicant's means and we have scrapped the application fee for such orders.

"We are confident the court procedures when making these orders are sufficiently robust to avoid the risk they could be used as evidence in unmerited applications for legal aid."