A heavily pregnant woman who was handcuffed to a radiator for four hours and tortured by her abusive ex-boyfriend managed to escape captivity – by pretending to go into premature labour.

Amy McFarlane, 27, who was 36 weeks pregnant tricked 30-year old Jake Corry into freeing her after she wet herself, claimed her waters had broken and exclaimed: ‘The baby’s coming!’

The mum-to-be’s ingenious lie caused Corry, who was the father of her unborn child, to suddenly burst into tears with guilt and he began apologising. 

He released Amy and insisted he accompany her to a hospital maternity unit, where on arrival she told a midwife about her ordeal.

It later emerged how paranoid Corry had taken Amy prisoner and slashed her with a sword after falsely accusing her of cheating on him.

Elsewhere during the sickening attack were reports that he hit her over the head with a hammer, strangled her and threatened to pull out her toenails with a pair of pliers while telling his captive victim ‘This is only the beginning.’

In a statement, the victim- who has since given birth to a healthy child- told police: ‘I have sustained flashbacks and have nightmares all the time. It has significantly impacted my mental health and my friends and family have also been impacted by it. I remain terrified of him.’

During a hearing at Manchester Crown Court, Corry, from Failsworth, near Oldham, was  jailed for six years after being found guilty of false imprisonment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and criminal damage.

The court heard how the couple had got together in March 2021 and Amy fell pregnant the following June, but they were said to have a ‘toxic and unhealthy relationship.’

Mr Ben Lawrence, prosecuting, said: ‘He was paranoid and jealous and would falsely accuse her of cheating on him, of taking drugs, and of trying to poison him. He was also violent towards her.’

The couple split the following October after he turned up at Amy’s home drunk and punched her in the face, before grabbing her best friend by the hair and smashing her head against the floor.

But although Corry was arrested, charged and bailed on condition he did not contact the victim, trouble began again on January 24 last year when she agreed to let him attend a baby scan.

Mr Lawrence added: ‘He invited her to spend the weekend with him and although she was in two minds agreed to do so. The Friday evening went well, however, on the Saturday evening there was a dispute, caused by his paranoia.

‘She began sending messages to try and get home but he grabbed her phone from her and when she grabbed it back he took from a drawer a “combat sword”, with a blade around 45cm in length.

‘He put the blade to her neck and threatened to cut her and told her she needed to “start talking’. She pointed out that she was pregnant but he was rambling to himself and he then cut her hand and drew blood.

‘He then told her she was “going to get more than that,” threatened her with the sword and began questioning her about various males, none of whom she knew.

‘Amy was crying and tried to tell him she was telling the truth but despite being terrified, she tried to calm him down by saying she loved him.

‘He seemed to calm down for a while but if she moved he would pick up the sword again and held it to her face. He also bit her face, threw objects at her and used a set of handcuffs to chain her to a radiator.

‘He threatened to disfigure her, picked up a pair of pliers and threatened to pull her toenails off with them. He threatened to cut her hair off with a pair of scissors and threatened to make a bomb out of fireworks, sugar and gunpowder, saying he was going to blow her up.

‘He also picked up a hammer and hit her on the head with it and bit and strangled her. At one point, she was able to pick up the hammer and swing it at him but none of her physical defence was successful in stopping the ordeal.

‘She eventually hit upon a more successful tactic, by deliberately wetting herself and telling the defendant the baby was coming. He snapped out of his rage and asked what he needed to do and then began crying, hugging her and apologising.

‘He called an ambulance but when it arrived, he insisted on accompanying Amy to hospital. He instructed her to tell medical staff that she had fallen over, to explain her injuries but at the hospital, a midwife took her away from the defendant to a separate room, on the pretext of needing to weigh her.

‘Once she was away from him, Amy disclosed that he had assaulted her and threatened to kill her.’

Corry was arrested in London and also convicted of battery and assault on an emergency worker. 

He had 35 previous offences on his record, for which he mainly received non custodial sentences.

In sentencing the judge Mr Recorder Edmund Fowler said: ‘You pose a high risk of harm to members of the public because of your violent history of behaviour.’

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