A heavily pregnant woman who was held hostage by her ex has told how he "slashed her stomach with an ornamental sword" and threatened to perform a DIY cesarean section in a horrifying five-hour ordeal.
Amy MacFarlane, 25, faked going into labour so that she could escape 30-year-old Jake Corry after he "lined up torture implements", chained her to a radiator, hit her with a hammer and cut off all her hair.
She became so scared that she wet herself, and managed to persuade him to call an ambulance by pretending that her waters had broken.
Once safely at the hospital, Amy confided in medical staff. Corry escaped but was later arrested in London.
He appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court last week and was jailed for six years.
Amy, from Oldham, said: "I pretended I was in labour and it was my only chance of escape. I really thought he was going to kill me.
"Thankfully me and my baby son are doing well, and I want to speak out to plead with other women to walk away from violence before it is too late."
Amy and Corry met in April 2021, and he initially seemed quiet and caring.
The mum-of-four said: "Jake and I really got on well. He seemed very protective, as though he wanted to look after me. I felt safe with him."
But weeks into their relationship, Jake flew into a rage after Amy bought a new foundation and he presumed she was planning to be unfaithful.
She said: "I tried to reassure him I would never cheat on him. I wanted him to trust me."
Three months later, she fell pregnant.
She said: "It was very early in our relationship but I was pleased and I really thought this would cement us as a couple and show Jake I was in it for the long term."
Instead, Jake became increasingly violent and controlling.
Amy continued: "He woke me at 5am each day to clean the floors. If they were streaky, he hit me. He bit me, punched me, strangled me.
"He never raised his voice; he’d tell me very calmly that he knew I was cheating on him. At the baby scan, he didn’t even believe the baby was his and insisted on a 4d scan to check for a resemblance.
"I called the police several times and he was convicted and warned to stay away, but always he came back. I was frightened of standing up to him because he would then target members of my family and threaten them.
"He even threatened to destroy the urn containing my mum’s ashes. She had recently passed away and her death was very raw for me.
"I was heavily pregnant, with nowhere to turn."
In January this year, at 36 weeks pregnant, Corry insisted on spending the night with Amy following a baby scan.
She said: "He was angry because I kept getting up to the loo in the night, as the baby was pressing on my bladder.
"By 9am, Jake was drinking alcohol. I tried to out, but he slashed my hand with a knife and threw my phone across the room.
"He lined up a set of torture implements on the bed; pliers, a hammer, a knife, an ornamental sword, and very calmly told me he was planning to disfigure me but would not kill me.
"I was hysterical, pleading with him to let me go. He smashed me over the head with a hammer and then handcuffed me to the radiator. I was terrified, begging for my life.
"The attack went on for hours, he threatened to pull out my toes-nails, he threw things at me and he bit me, he squeezed my throat so I almost passed out, and at one point, out of sheer terror, I wet myself.
"I realised I could use it to my advantage and I told Jake my waters had broken.
"At first he was angry and crazed, and he slashed my stomach with the sword and said he would do the C-section himself. I managed to make him think the baby was in danger, I began faking contractions, and he called an ambulance.
"He was on the phone to the operator who was asking him to look for the head. I started to panic, thinking he would work out I was lying.
"The paramedics arrived just in time and we both went in the ambulance. I didn’t speak all the way to the hospital. Once we were safe, I confided in a midwife."
Corry escaped and was later arrested after a manhunt.
Incredibly, the baby was found to have no injuries and Amy gave birth naturally one month later. She is now concentrating on a safe future for her and her children.
Amy said: "I have flashbacks and nightmares all the time. I am terrified of him. I believe I was moments from death that day, and I feel such relief that I managed to get away.
"I hope other women will learn from my story."
Jake Corry appeared before Minshull St Crown Court last week.
The court heard how, while being treated at a nearby hospital, he unsuccessfully tried to escape through a glass door.
Later, when he was remanded in a custody suite, he spat at an officer who stopped him tying a grey sweatshirt around his neck.
He denied any wrongdoing but while on the run sent his victim a text message saying: "You need to tell them I tried to kill myself and you tried to stop me and went in labour."
Corry, who had 35 previous offences on his record, was found guilty of false imprisonment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and criminal damage. He was also convicted of battery and assault on an emergency worker.
Sentencing him, 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."
Corry, of Failsworth, was sentenced to six years in prison. Following his release he will be on licence until 2032 under the terms of an extended sentence.
For women:
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk
If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk
For men:
For confidential support, contact the ManKind Initiative on 01823 334244 (open weekdays 10am to 4pm). The helpline is a listening service which provides emotional support, practical information and signposting.
They also have also produced a directory of local services (called the Oak Book) which support male victims and helps to find services in their community. For more information visit https://www.mankind.org.uk/
