Well, I had pictures of my blood-shot eye, all the other injuries were hidden (ie a sore neck, where he'd pulled clumps of hair out but there was nothing to see). The police said that his solicitor could say that that photo was taken after I left, or that it wasn't my eye, so< i got the police to verify (stamp and sign a printed photo) that they could see from my mobile phone that it was taken the morning I left.
What the police advised me to do, was to write up (do it on the computer), all the abuse, diarised as MUCH as you can. With approximate dates where possible. REally, really, hard to do, but after 'working' on my *testimony, I found I was able to think, well, that was before I was pregnant but we were just back from sainsbury's which had only just opened so it must have been JUly 05. So although to start with, I thought I couldn't put a date to anything, in the end, I was able to put at least a month to most of the incidents.
I found it really hard to do. I found that I only remember AFTER I had left him, that he'd tried to strangle me. I remember all the minor non-life threatening shoves and punches and so on, but I'd actually blocked out that night when he put his hands around my neck when we were in bed and squeezed and ssaid, you've no idea how much I want to kill you. He had flushed my phone down the loo and I put the date of that down. I had to get a new phone soon afterwards and that would be on record. Also he kicked down a few doors, and I imagine the door frames are still damaged and locks show strain.
So..... it was HARD to do. But i have it - 8 pages of what he put me through. Edited, honed, as succinct but as articulate as I can make it. He knows nothing about that, as in the end, I didn't press charges against him.. Every situation is different, but I was living far enough away from him that I thought making him angry would do me more harm than good. But, I know it's there, my 'account'. I am happy now, and I have moved on and blocked it out thank god. I want to forget it, but I'm glad I have it written down. IN fact, writing it down made it horribly real, but it gave respect to what I'd been through and helped allow me to start properly forgetting. IYSWIM
So, what I'm advising you to do is to think really hard about what he put you through. Emotional abuse, physical abuse, unreasonable behaviour, controlling behaviour. Where possible, put in the dates.
About looking petty; any one incident on its own might be petty, but it's not one incident alone that made you crack, it's years worth.
When you write up your written 'testimony' try not to be too emotional. Keep it as factual as you can.
Good luck. It's an incredibly hard time.. That first year after splitting up with a mad man. Be strong and take care of yourself and your dd. She's always going to love her Mum. My children spend time with their Dad, but they're always happy to come back to me. I am number one. And as time goes by, I think I could live with him being more important to them in the future, I will always have my unique relationship with my children, and his relationship with them will be separate and will not have the power to spoil mine. I hope that helps a little.