'Beaten by my mother... but I still love her'

Beaten, bathed in ice and made to eat dirt - Louise Allen's mother stole her childhood with unspeakable acts, and it's clear now she should never have been allowed to care for a child.

Adopted in 1968 when she was just six weeks old, Louise was supposed to have found sanctuary, a family and a future in her new mother’s loving care. But her adopted mother turned out to be a deeply disturbed woman, with a horrific past herself.

You'd expect that Louise would have wanted to get as far away from her as soon as she was old enough. But, despite her appalling cruelty, Louise did the exact opposite, choosing to care for her mother until her death aged 86. Louise joins us in the studio today.