A mother-of-one has revealed how her violent boyfriend beat her, threatened to skin her and slit her throat, and bury her alive.
Michaela Holden, 34, from Cambridge was subjected to months of physical violence by thug, Geoffrey Pearce, 38, who held her at knifepoint and left her afraid to sleep at night.
In one terrifying incident, Pearce drove Michaela to secluded woods where he threatened to split her head open with a log before taking her back to an address and pretending to spike her tea.
He told her she would 'wake up in a hole buried alive'.
After Pearce was jailed for 15 years in June, Michaela has bravely spoken out about her experience to raise awareness of domestic violence.
The full-time-mum said: "Being in a relationship with Geoffrey was a living hell.
"He'd wake me up in the middle of the night by slapping me, and accusing me of cheating.
"I thought he'd end up killling me.
"I want to warn other women about how dangerous he is."
Michaela met Pearce in February 2019 on dating site, Badoo.
The pair hit it off and quickly started dating and .
Pearce moved in with Michaela a few weeks later.
At first, he was sweet and caring, but he soon began drinking heavily.
One evening he accused her of being a bad mum, and spat at her.
Then in November, in a drunken rage, Pearce pulled a knife on Michaela.
She says: "Out of nowhere he accused me of cheating.
"I'd just put my daughter down to sleep, it was terrifying.
"For 6 hours he interrogated me. During that time, he head-butted me, punched me all over and threatened to throw me down the stairs.
"Eventually he calmed down and the next morning told me he was testing me.
"He apologised and swore on his kids' lives it would never happen again.
"I was naive to believe him."
Then, in December, while Michaela was asleep, Pearce slapped her until she woke up - accusing her of cheating again.
She tried to break up with him, but he threatened to hurt her family if she left him.
Michaela says: "One day I went Christmas shopping with my mum, and when we returned home, he accused me of cheating again and demanded to see receipts and time stamps of the parking.
"Then he ordered me upstairs and told me to get on the bed. There, he pulled down my trousers and inspected my privates, telling me I'd had sex as I looked different. It was horrific.
"I felt trapped."
Then, in January last year, Pearce flipped again.
Michaela says: "He was looking at an old laptop of mine when he saw I was friends with men on my Facebook and flew into a rage.
"He yanked my arm and flung me over the sofa- beating me in the legs. He threatened to slit my throat and started strangling me.
"I felt like I was going to die."
The next day, Pearce drove Michaela to a relative's address and armed with a knife, threatened to 'skin her alive'.
She says: "Afterwards I told him my daughter was hungry and asked if we could go for some food. I hoped to raise the alarm in a public place.
"He agreed, but instead of driving us to McDonald's, he drove us to a secluded wooded area.
"He told me to get out of the car and follow him.
"After a while we stopped and he picked up a log and said he'd split my head open.
"I made the excuse that my daughter needed changing and begged him to take us home and eventually he calmed down and we drove back."
Back at the house, Pearce made Michaela a cup of tea. Then he told her she'd 'go to sleep and wake up in a hole, buried alive'.
She says: "That night, I didn't sleep.
"I thought he'd poisoned me, so I drank lots of water.
"He was lying all along."
Michaela managed to escape the next day after Pearce passed out drunk.
She found her car keys and fled - calling the police.
The next day Pearce was arrested.
He was charged with a number of offences and was remanded in prison, but even then, he continued to call Michaela and tried to persuade her to withdraw her report against him.
Pearce denied the charges but was found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment, threats to kill, possession of cannabis, four counts of common assault, two counts of actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice at Cambridge Crown Court.
He was jailed in June for 15 years.
Michaela says: "I'm glad he's behind bars, but I'm a completely different person now. I find myself looking over my shoulder all the time no matter where I am or what time of day it is.
"Please, if you're in an abusive relationship, go to the police or tell a family member or friend, they will protect you."
