And while Catherine's high-powered father was accused of assaulting ex-girlfriends, she shared a bed with the unpredictable and violent Newton.

In 2010, Newton was charged with attacking actress Rachael Taylor while celebrating their engagement in Rome, Italy.

During the trip, Taylor reportedly suffered "two unprovoked assaults" at the hands of Newton, one of them in the lobby of a five-star hotel.

Court papers said during the sickening attack she suffered concussion, bruising and a sprained jaw "consistent with having her head bashed against the floor and walls."

Newton — who still bears her name tattooed on his wrist — was issued a restraining order and ordered not to assault, harass or threaten her.

Alarmingly, this was not an isolated incident.

It occurred four years after he was accused of gouging the eyes and face of his then-girlfriend, actress Brooke Satchwell, at their Australia home in 2006. They had been living together for six years.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of common assault — only after prosecutors withdrew three more serious charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and stalking and intimidation — at a Sydney court in 2007.

Controversially the conviction was overturned when a psychiatrist said Newton had been rehabilitated in therapy and was unlikely to reoffend.

An assessment which later proved drastically wrong.

In 2009, he caused $7,000 worth of damage to a Sydney hotel room.

Also in 2010, reports in Australia said he was receiving treatment for schizophrenia-like symptoms after taking a cocktail of cocaine, methamphetamine and mari