Thug who hit his partner with a hammer, kidnapped her and strangled her numerous times is jailed

Last year Nathaniel Corkish, of Lindale, Skelmersdale hit his victim with a hammer, kidnapped her and strangled her numerous times.

A Preston Crown Court judge has now sentenced him to eight years in prison with two years extended licence.

On Friday November 11 Corkish throttled his partner and dragged her up the stairs by the neck.

He then struck her several times about the head and face with a hammer “to stop her from making too much noise.”

Following the attack he strangled her again until she lost consciousness.

Meanwhile he removed carpet from the stairs and stripped the bed to hide the blood. He then burned the carpet in the garden.

The court heard that after remaining in bed until November 13 the woman asked him to call an ambulance but he refused.

When she tried to leave the house 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 their child believing she would be taken for medical treatment.

Instead he drove for 12 hours and when she asked him to let her out of the car, he strangled her again.

The victim was reported missing in the early hours of November 14 and, shortly before midday on Monday the November 14, Merseyside Police spotted the car in Wallasey in Wirral.

They followed and pulled it over. Officers found the woman in the rear of the car with significant facial injuries. The rear windows of the car had T-shirts pulled over them to prevent anyone seeing in. Their child was in the passenger seat, unharmed.

The woman sustained facial, skull and brain injuries, she was in an induced coma for four days and was only deemed well enough to speak with the police on November 29 in hospital, 15 days later.

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.

Corkish pleaded guilty in December last year to causing grievous bodily harm, kidnap and non-fatal strangulation and has today (March 31) been jailed.

Emanuele Bellanca, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West said: “Nathaniel Corkish is an extremely dangerous man who carried out a campaign of violence against his partner over three days in the presence of his own child.

“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.”