Vile man told pregnant mum ‘you know what happens next’ before raping her as kids slept | UK | News

A man wielding two knives told a pregnant woman « you know what’s going to happen next » before raping her while her children slept in the same house. Liam Cowley, 32, entered the victim’s home before inflicting an horrific hours-long attack.

Cowley, of no fixed abode, had threatened to tell social services she had given him one of her front door keys and « get her children taken off her ». The 32-year-old had taken one of the woman’s front door keys before letting himself into her home several times during the night and at times raping her in her sleep. On Wednesday, December 10, he was jailed for 18 years at Liverpool Crown Court, with an extended licence of five years due to dangerousness, making a total extended sentence of 23 years.

Martine Snowdon, prosecuting, said: « The defendant on a number of occasions just did what he wanted when he wanted in circumstances where she was not consenting to it, and he was repeatedly threatening and intimidating her. »

As reported by the Liverpool Echo, on one occasion Cowley entered the home while the woman’s children were asleep upstairs. He had been drinking and started to act aggressively towards her.

Ms Snowdon told the court that Cowley « was immediately aggressive towards her, headbutting her and spitting on her ». After she refused to cook him a steak, Cowley punched the victim and smashed her phone as she tried to call police.

She also told the court: « With no means to call for help, she ran out of the front door to scream for help, but no one responded and he dragged her back inside. He grabbed her round her throat and started choking her.

« Briefly he let go but then did it again, this time she blacked out and woke up on the floor, where he then proceeded to kick her. She pleaded with him saying ‘you know I’m pregnant’, which was true, in the hope that was stop him attacking her.

« Instead of bringing him to his senses he picked up the metal tube from the hoover and snapped it holding it over her as if he was going to hit her with it. She said she was lucky because he changed his mind and hit the television, not her.

« She went to go upstairs and he began ripping at her clothes. He told her she couldn’t check on the children, she couldn’t go to the toilet and wasn’t to leave his sight.

« He continued to be aggressive and took two knives from the kitchen, putting one on the side near the door and another next to her on the sofa and said ‘you know what’s going to happen next’. She said ‘I don’t know, you’re probably going to kill me’, and believed that is what he was going to do. His response was ‘no, much worse’. »

Cowley then raped the woman twice before she was able to flee after he fell asleep. She took refuge in a nearby mobile phone shop and called police.

Cowley was then arrested and later charged with multiple offences. He was due to appear at Liverpool Crown Court last year but failed to attend and it was later discovered he had fled to Norfolk under the fake name of Tommy Lee King.

He then started dating a 19-year-old woman in July 2024 before moving into her mum’s house in Wareside. Their relationsip lasted five months, during which Cowley attacked the teenager several times.

Ms Snowdon said: « She described occasions when, during an argument, Tommy would try and strangle her. He would pin her to the bed and grab her throat.

« This had happened a few times but she specifically recalled it happening on two occasions, both taking place during arguments in which he physically assaulted her as well as strangling her. She also described him spitting at her in the course of arguments. »

The woman attended hospital after being punched and strangled by Cowley in December last year. Police took pictures of her injuries but she did not want to make a formal complaint against Cowley.

However, Ms Snowdon added: « It was after the police left that, through a friend of her mother’s and social media research, she identified that Tommy Lee King was not his real name, and he was in fact Liam Cowley and wanted in connection with other offences in Liverpool. »

Cowley was then arrested again and appeared at Liverpool Crown Court in July this year for trial. He denied three counts of rape, four counts of intentional strangulation, and making threats to kill, but was found guilty on all charges. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and one breach of bail.

However, he sentencing, which was due to take place in September, was delayed as he claimed he had OCD, ADHD, borderline personality disorder and a brain injury affecting his behaviour. Further enquiries found no evidence of any such diagnoses.

At his sentencing yesterday, Wednesday, December 10, defence counsel Graham Wilson said: « I have seen nothing of medical notes. It seems the injuries he has reported to his head were never reported and he never went to hospital for them.

« The defendant during his time in custody has done many courses. He has been an enhanced prisoner in Bedford and Liverpool. She was working in mental heath and also in the neurodiversity area to understand his own, what he describes as ADHA, although that is not confirmed by any medical or psychological evidence. The defendant believes he has ADHD and that’s what he believes was a factor in his assaults.

« He has work lined up for when he gets out of prison. That, he accepts, could be a number of years.

« This is a man who, despite these very serious offences, is in many ways trying to come to terms with what he is and why he behaves in the way he has. I accept he doesn’t accept guilt on the rape matters. The sentence is bound to be a lengthy one. »