01-28-2005, 02:36 PM
A FORMER girlfriend of killer Christian Corlett told today how she warned police he posed a danger to women.
She told the Independent: 'I told police that they should charge him with something small before he did something big. His behaviour was escalating out of control.'
The woman, 31, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of recriminations, described Corlett, convicted of murder this week, as a 'manipulative fantasist'.
She said: 'He was a pathological liar and I am just glad that the jury saw through his lies.'
Corlett, 23, was found guilty of murdering Jenny Barlow, 21, in a sadistic attack at his home. He is awaiting sentence.
The killer's former girlfriend claimed she made three separate complaints to police about Corlett's behaviour after she split up with him at the end of a turbulent 10-month relationship.
She claimed police failed to act speedily enough on her allegations that he had blitzed her with malicious text messages.
Frustrated, she said she contacted Hazel Hannan MHK who, she said, arranged a meeting with police.
'He had done all these things and just got away with it. I told them that I was terrified that he would torch my house,' the woman said this week.
When Corlett was accused of Jenny Barlow's murder three months later, his former partner said she was shocked 'but not surprised'. She added: 'The terrible thing was that it could have been me.'
Her affair began with Corlett in October 2002 when she met him via friends who had got to know him through an internet chatroom.
From the first moment, he lied to her.
She said: 'He was living a fantasy from the word go. He claimed he was a dot com millionaire. I never really believed him. He was 21, I was 29. I just thought he was a young lad trying to impress. He was a good looking lad. It was a one-night stand which went wrong.'
He insisted he was wealthy until his mum Lynn told her the truth and Corlett smashed up the kitchen of his mother's home in fury, his ex-partner claimed.
That was the first incident of violence but worse was to come when he moved in with her – although his increasingly erratic behaviour was blamed on Asperger's syndrome, a defence Corlett relied on in court.
She said: 'His lying became more and more elaborate. He is very manipulative but I was covering up for him because of the Asperger's – I felt sorry for him. But his behaviour was to get more and more scary.'
She said she had to call the police around to her home at least once a month because Christian was 'doing something bizarre'.
Once, following a row, he told he would stay the night somewhere else but she found him sleeping on her garage roof.
Things took a more sinister turn when he came home drunk from a night out and pounced on her in bed, slapping her and urging her: 'Let's have play fight'.
She said: 'I was left with big welts on my arms. I was really upset, distraught and angry.'
She finally kicked Corlett out following an incident during a barbecue on her birthday, when he smashed up his music decks with a samurai sword – one of three he kept in her utility room.
For three weeks after they had split up, he made threatening phone calls and blitzed her with text messages in the early hours.
'I would not go anywhere by myself – I would never go out in Douglas. I slept with a carving knife under my bed. I changed my locks. When he rang I would hang up straight away. I was scared.'
Acting Deputy Chief Constable Gary Roberts, who was the senior investigating officer in the murder inquiry, commented: 'We revisited some cases where his conduct was brought to our attention.
'I am satisfied that everything we did at the time was done properly and there was nothing in his previous conduct that could have possibly led anyone to believe he would commit this terrible crime.'
http://www.iomonline .co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=870&ArticleID=930212
She told the Independent: 'I told police that they should charge him with something small before he did something big. His behaviour was escalating out of control.'
The woman, 31, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of recriminations, described Corlett, convicted of murder this week, as a 'manipulative fantasist'.
She said: 'He was a pathological liar and I am just glad that the jury saw through his lies.'
Corlett, 23, was found guilty of murdering Jenny Barlow, 21, in a sadistic attack at his home. He is awaiting sentence.
The killer's former girlfriend claimed she made three separate complaints to police about Corlett's behaviour after she split up with him at the end of a turbulent 10-month relationship.
She claimed police failed to act speedily enough on her allegations that he had blitzed her with malicious text messages.
Frustrated, she said she contacted Hazel Hannan MHK who, she said, arranged a meeting with police.
'He had done all these things and just got away with it. I told them that I was terrified that he would torch my house,' the woman said this week.
When Corlett was accused of Jenny Barlow's murder three months later, his former partner said she was shocked 'but not surprised'. She added: 'The terrible thing was that it could have been me.'
Her affair began with Corlett in October 2002 when she met him via friends who had got to know him through an internet chatroom.
From the first moment, he lied to her.
She said: 'He was living a fantasy from the word go. He claimed he was a dot com millionaire. I never really believed him. He was 21, I was 29. I just thought he was a young lad trying to impress. He was a good looking lad. It was a one-night stand which went wrong.'
He insisted he was wealthy until his mum Lynn told her the truth and Corlett smashed up the kitchen of his mother's home in fury, his ex-partner claimed.
That was the first incident of violence but worse was to come when he moved in with her – although his increasingly erratic behaviour was blamed on Asperger's syndrome, a defence Corlett relied on in court.
She said: 'His lying became more and more elaborate. He is very manipulative but I was covering up for him because of the Asperger's – I felt sorry for him. But his behaviour was to get more and more scary.'
She said she had to call the police around to her home at least once a month because Christian was 'doing something bizarre'.
Once, following a row, he told he would stay the night somewhere else but she found him sleeping on her garage roof.
Things took a more sinister turn when he came home drunk from a night out and pounced on her in bed, slapping her and urging her: 'Let's have play fight'.
She said: 'I was left with big welts on my arms. I was really upset, distraught and angry.'
She finally kicked Corlett out following an incident during a barbecue on her birthday, when he smashed up his music decks with a samurai sword – one of three he kept in her utility room.
For three weeks after they had split up, he made threatening phone calls and blitzed her with text messages in the early hours.
'I would not go anywhere by myself – I would never go out in Douglas. I slept with a carving knife under my bed. I changed my locks. When he rang I would hang up straight away. I was scared.'
Acting Deputy Chief Constable Gary Roberts, who was the senior investigating officer in the murder inquiry, commented: 'We revisited some cases where his conduct was brought to our attention.
'I am satisfied that everything we did at the time was done properly and there was nothing in his previous conduct that could have possibly led anyone to believe he would commit this terrible crime.'
http://www.iomonline .co.im/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=870&ArticleID=930212