A terrified girl had to make a hushed call to police after finding her mum’s body while her killer was still in the house.

Piotr Cichy, 49, smothered and battered his partner Magdalena Pacult to death in a violent outburst at their home in Stockbridge Village, Merseyside.

She was discovered by her 16-year-old daughter, Wiktoria Bartnik, who bravely called police while trying not to alert Cichy.

Ms Pacult had taken refuge in her daughter’s bedroom before the attack, and the pair talked into the early hours of January 1.

But when the teen woke up, at around noon, her mum was no longer beside her.

She then found her mum’s body on her bed and dialled 999. When officers arrived they found Ms Pacult’s body and arrested Cichy.

Cichy denied killing her throughout the prosecution, claiming someone else had got into the house and murdered her.

But investigators discovered Cichy had been violent during their two-year relationship.

It also emerged he had gone round a friend’s house shortly after the murder, with a bag containing his bloodied pyjamas, and admitted killing his partner.

During the trial, Gordon Cole QC, prosecuting, told jurors that Ms Pacult said she ‘must escape’ from her ‘aggressive’ partner in texts to friends.

In one message, she said: ‘He keeps threatening me, calling me names, making me feel scared.

‘He keeps the key, he sleeps with them. I can’t change the lock because I’m unable to do it.’

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court unanimously convicted Cichy of murder. He will be sentenced on September 24.

Prosecutor Angie Rowan said: ‘Piotr Cichy is a violent bully who subjected Magdalena Pacult to abuse throughout most of their relationship.

‘He had a problem with drink and the violence towards Magdalena got worse when he drank.

‘She had taken refuge in her daughter’s bedroom in the hours before she was killed.

‘The details of what happened between her and Cichy in the hours leading up to the killing will probably never be known but the results of it were devastating.

‘The Crown Prosecution Service applied to the court to allow Ms Pacult’s daughter to give her evidence prior to the trial away from the court to make the process less upsetting for her.

‘These provisions are relatively new and allow for the evidence and cross-examination of a young or vulnerable victim to be pre-recorded and then shown to the jury during the trial.

‘Ms Bartnik has already suffered a dreadful tragedy. We hope that the provisions we have made for her to give her evidence in this way and the successful conclusion of this prosecution will go at least some way to helping her in the months and years ahead.

‘The Crown Prosecution Service would like to pay tribute to her courage in helping us bring this prosecution.’

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