A man with a long list of prior convictions for domestic violence hid the extent of his vile past from his girlfriend before she became his victim.
Ashley Geraghty, 35, and his partner got together while at school - but broke it off after he cheated on her.
Later they got back in touch and dated for a while before she fell pregnant with their son.
After finding out a baby was on the way, Geraghty began revealing his true nature - and the abuse he inflicted on previous partners came to light, she told the Manchester Evening News.
The serial domestic abuser was jailed for four years at Manchester Crown Court last week after booting her in the stomach while heavily pregnant, before dragging her around the house by the hair.
Months later the vile thug attacked her again, pinning her down on the bed and strangling her.
The former lover, who has asked to remain anonymous fearing reprisals, said Geraghty used to "call me names and spit at me".
She added: "He was just generally horrible"
“He used to lie about where he was, what he was doing and who he was with.
“He was taking drugs - I’d find empty bags on the kitchen tops. It was awful.”
She said he would go missing for weeks on end on drug-induced benders, then come back home and say he was ‘really sorry’.
The pair would argue and she would ask him to leave, but due to an electronic tag he refused to go.
Geraghty had told her it was because he had been in trouble with the police following a fight with another man.
Little did she know it was because he had previously battered an ex-partner.
The woman said he pressured her into offering her address for the tag, which meant he was bailed to live at her house and stay indoors between certain times.
“I couldn’t back out. I felt like I was trapped, "she said.
In December 2017, things took a turn for the worse when he brutally attacked her whilst she was eight months pregnant.
He pushed her to the floor and kicked her to the stomach before dragging her through the house.
Her only means of escape was to get into the garden where he was restricted from going because of the tag.
However, Geraghty would apologise, say he needed help and tell the woman that she ‘was the issue’.
He would tell her “please don't give up on me” and took advantage of the woman’s kind nature.
“I grew up not knowing my dad and he knew that and knew how much I wanted a family unit,” she said.
“He would say ‘I don't want our son to be taken away from you’.
A month later their son was born, and things appeared to calm down. But, a trip to visit his grandparents in North Wales saw Geraghty drink and ‘kick off’ with her, resulting in him hitting her in front of their son.
Months later, in August 2018, she saw a message from his ex-partner asking Geraghty what time he was picking her up.
She challenged him about it, at which point he began arguing with her, and to diffuse the situation and get away from him she went upstairs.
He followed her, pushed her down onto the bed and strangled her.
She was left with painful red marks around her neck and couldn’t swallow properly for weeks.
A judge told him that he made a ‘determined effort to strangle her’ and added that he could have killed her.
She said: "It was petrifying. I was going to give up on him. I said I don't want to do this anymore and then the tears came and he said he was really sorry and I said he needed to speak to someone.”
She said therapeutic routes to fix Geraghty's behaviour didn't work, and she added she would regularly drug test him before he saw their son.
But when he failed, she "couldn't do this anymore" and broke it off.
The woman would regularly drug test Geraghty when he saw their son, but he failed and so she ended the relationship.
However, he took to Facebook, posting pictures of her and her new partner and making threats towards him.
It was then she went to the police, and told them of his violence towards her. “I knew he was never going to leave me alone. I was protecting myself and my son,” she said.
She then learnt of his previous convictions against multiple partners.
Now, Geraghty has been jailed for over four years. Upon learning of his sentence, she said: “When I found out he was sent to jail I cried."
Geraghty was also handed a restraining order, banning him from contacting the woman for 10 years.
But, the woman said she would always be worried about him coming back and said she lives in a constant state of fear.
“If I could tell a woman in my situation anything, it’s that you have to do what’s right for you.
"You need to protect yourself, you need to speak out about it, you need to go and seek help. “The process is not easy, it is long and stressful.
"Do it for you and do it for other women. I didn’t really know anything about his previous partner, and that’s not right.
“I have finally felt like I got justice for me and my son. I have waited for this for so long. I was quiet for so long, I didn’t want to impact the court case, and now I feel like a weight is lifting and everyone knows what really happened.”
