A thug who repeatedly strangled a woman, battered her with a hammer then kidnapped her and drove her around for 12 hours with a baby in the car has been jailed. Nathaniel Corkish, 31, left the victim with life-changing injuries following the terrifying three-day ordeal.
The prolonged attack began on November 11 last year, when Corkish strangled the woman and dragged her up the stairs by her neck. He then hit her multiple times to the head and face with a hammer.
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To stop her from making too much noise he then strangled her again until she passed out. To hide the blood he removed carpet from the stairs, which he burnt in the garden, and stripped the bed.
After spending more than 48 hours in bed badly injured the victim then asked Corkish to call an ambulance. He refused.
When she tried to leave the house in Skelmersdale, near Wigan, to seek help from a neighbour, he was waiting outside for her and told her he would take her to the hospital in his car. She agreed to go with him along with her child.
Instead Corkish drove for 12 hours during which time she thought he was 'searching for a burial site' for her body. When she asked him to let her out of the car, he strangled her again. She was reported missing in the early hours of November 14.
Just before noon that day police spotted the car in Wallasey in Wirral. Officers found the woman in the back seat with significant facial injuries. The rear windows of the car had t-shirts pulled over them to prevent anyone seeing in.
The baby was in the passenger seat unharmed.
The victim had suffered facial, skull and brain injuries and was put in an induced coma for four days. It was more than a fortnight later before she was well enough to speak with police.
In her victim impact statement, she explained to the judge how the ordeal has affected her physical and mental health. She has lost some vision in her right eye, has impaired taste and smell and has facial scarring from the surgery.
She struggles to sleep and has flashbacks. She cannot pick up anything heavy, including her child. She has had issues with her balance and difficulties in washing herself and is unable to leave her home alone.
Nathaniel Corkish, of Lindale, Skelmersdale, pleaded guilty in December last year at Preston Crown Court to causing grievous bodily harm, kidnap and non-fatal strangulation. On Friday he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Emanuele Bellanca, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West said: "Nathaniel Corkish is an extremely dangerous man. After attacking her, he lured her into his car on the pretence he would take her to the hospital, refusing to let her out of the car and strangling her if she dared to ask to be let out.
"During the 12-hour journey she feared for her life believing he was searching for a burial site for her body. I would like to recognise the action taken by the Merseyside Police ensuring the safety of this woman when they stopped the car.
"I would also like to commend her bravery in supporting the case against the man who inflicted the most appalling physical, emotional and mental injuries upon her. I hope that following today's sentence she can begin to move on with her life."
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