Mum’s brutal boyfriend threw an IRON at her, threatened to burn her with bleach and stamped on her during three-day reign of terror
Kelly Allport, 37, from Wolverhampton, was "convinced she was going to die" during James Barrow's violent attack
A BRAVE mum has told how her brutal boyfriend threw an iron at her, threatened to burn her with bleach and stamped on her during a three-day reign of terror.
Kelly Allport, 37, from Wolverhampton, met “caring and kind” James Barrow, 27, on Tinder in September 2015.
The pair grew close quickly. They shunned all New Year’s Eve party invites in favour of spending a cosy night in together, along with Kelly’s four-year-old son from a previous relationship.
Kelly said: “James assured me he loved spending time with me – no matter what we were doing.
“I felt so lucky to have found someone so caring and kind. We had only been together for three months - after meeting through Tinder - but I could see a future with James.”
Kelly’s son had been unwell and the pair were dozing on the sofa when Barrow came into the room and asked if he could use her tablet as his phone had run out of battery.
“The next thing I knew I’d nodded off, before being woken up with a thud when James threw a teddy bear at me,” she said.
Barrow stormed out of the living room and told Kelly he’d seen Facebook messages from other men.
She assured him they were from the father of her son, who she remains on good terms with, but Barrow got angry and flew into a violent rage.
“Before I could calm him down and reassure him he was the only man I was interested in, he pushed me on to the bed and raised his fists,” she said.
“James grabbed hold of me and dragged me off the bed by my hair. In a jealous frenzy, he started to kick and punch me, before stopping to put on his trainers and booting my body some more.
“I cowered in a ball, pleading with him to leave me alone.”
Suddenly, Barrow stopped and went downstairs to the kitchen.
Trembling, Kelly followed him, tiptoeing so as not to wake her son who was asleep on the sofa.
Barrow started crying and apologising. He told her to put her son to bed so they could talk.
Kelly said: “I hoped it was a moment of madness, but James couldn’t let it go and kept asking questions about the messages on my Facebook account.
“Working himself up, I could tell he was becoming more and more angry.
“He flipped at me and lashed out again – raining blow after blow down on me as I doubled over in pain.
“James continued to beat me for what felt like hours on end, by 11pm I was black and blue and a trembling wreck.”
Eventually, Barrow stopped. Kelly was desperate to call the police but Barrow had taken her phone and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
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The next morning, on New Year’s Eve, Barrow was still livid.
Kelly said: “He started interrogating me again, before getting up and lashing out.
“James punched me in the head and when I fell to the floor he kicked me repeatedly.
“When I stumbled back to my feet, he stood behind me and wrapped his arm around my neck, strangling me until I passed out. When I came around, I was dazed and confused.”
Kelly said Barrow ordered her to get up and he continued to punch her in the head.
“He dragged me around the room, whacking me with all his force and stamping on my stomach,” she said.
“Picking up the iron, he launched it at me and it hit my arm. Thankfully it wasn’t hot, but it hurt.
“James stormed to Benjamin’s bedroom and put his hand through the door.
“He pushed me into my son’s room and continued to beat me.”
The brutal attack lasted half an hour and only ended when Barrow went outside for a cigarette.
Kelly was desperate to escape but feared James would hurt her and her son.
“James warned, ‘If you get anyone else involved, I’ll make your life hell. I’ll kill you and I’ll kill your son as well,'” she said.
Barrow continued to brutally attack Kelly as her little boy sobbed in the next room.
By 4pm, she “felt completely numb”.
Later that afternoon, Kelly’s mum Julie arrived to pick up her little boy but she was too frightened to say anything.
“I desperately wanted to go with her, but I didn’t as I didn't feel it was safe – James would have come after us all,” she said.
“When they left and I went back upstairs, James had run me a bath and he start being kind.”
Barrow started crying again and told Kelly he “needed help”.
Not wanting to cause another violent outburst she played along.
“Exhausted from his non-stop beatings, I curled up on the bed and managed to have a bit of sleep,” she said.
“James lay down and tried to hug me, but I brushed him away. In agony, it hurt when he reached out but I also didn’t want him to touch me.”
The next morning, Barrow brought up the Facebook messages again and flew into another rage.
“He started punching, kicking and strangling me again – until I passed out,” she said.
“Suddenly, James had a bottle of bleach in his hands.
“He held my nose and tried to make me drink it as I desperately tried to fight him off.
“Then he poured the corrosive liquid over me. James grabbed a lighter and flicked it open.”
Barrow threatened to burn down the house and Kelly was “convinced I was going to die”.
Her three days of terror at Barrow's hands finally came to an end when she spotted his phone on the bed.
“While he was in another room, I dialled 999 as my hands shook with fear,” she said.
“Ten minutes later, officers arrived and there was a knock on the front door.
“Just in my dressing gown, James had ripped it off me in his brutal attacks, so I fled out of the house completely naked.
“They wrapped me in a coat and arrested James.”
Kelly showered to wash the bleach off her body and the police took photographs of her injuries. She was later taken to hospital.
Eventually, Barrow appeared in court and pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
Judge Peter Barrie told Barrow: "This was a sustained and violent attack. You attacked Kelly and then told her you loved her. What could possibly have been going through your mind to make you say that?
"You thought you could punish and control Kelly, kicking, punching, slapping, stamping and pulling her around by her hair. You also threw an iron at her, threatened to pour bleach on her and threatened to kill her and burn her house down."
Barrow was sentenced to two years in prison in March 2016. He served 12 months of his sentence and is now out on license.
Kelly said: “I’ll never forget what James put me through, but I won’t let him destroy my life. I’m determined to be strong for the sake of my son.”