A mum-of-three wants everyone to know how dangerous her abuser is after she was "sucked in" by the thug's charm.
Emma Fallows first met Jordan Coulson through a friend in 2022 and asked him to do some plastering work on her house. Following the work, the pair began talking, with Coulson reportedly moving his things into her home just two days later.
Emma, 39, claimed she said he could stay for one night – but he never left. The relationship moved fast and appeared in the early stages to be going well. Coulson, 31, bombarded Emma with compliments, calling her his queen, and showering her with gifts. Emma admitted she was "sucked in" by his charm.
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However, in August 2022, Emma said she began to notice "red flags". She claimed on one occasion Coulson made her show him her bed on video chat to prove no-one else was there. Emma, who is a hairdresser, said: "He was telling me how beautiful I was, sending me flowers and calling me his queen.
"I hadn’t had that for a long time so I was sucked into it. But I was already seeing these red flags. I had only been with him for eight weeks."
Emma said things came to a head on August 19 2022 when Coulson demanded she pick him up from the pub. On the drive home, the mum said he kept grabbing her face to kiss her and taking her attention away from the road. As they pulled up near her home, in Denton, Manchester, Emma waved at a man who lived nearby. She claimed this sent Coulson into a fit of jealous rage which led to him shouting abuse at her neighbour.
Shocked by his behaviour, Emma asked him to pack his bags and leave her property. She said she dropped him off in a car park before driving to a client’s house. Emma told the Manchester Evening News: "I told him I didn’t like the person I was seeing. I said, ‘When we get back, I want you to get your stuff and go.’”
While cutting her client's hair, Emma said she received "about 12 phone calls" from Coulson, with texts asking if she loved him anymore and whether they could talk. But when the mum returned home, she noticed Coulson had fallen asleep on her sofa and she went into her bedroom alone.
Around 10 minutes later, the mum claimed she heard Coulson shouting. He entered her bedroom while she was packing his bag and grabbed her by the throat. She said: "He grabbed me by the throat and strangled me. He put his hands around my throat and did it repeatedly and blocked the hall so I couldn’t get out."
The mum fractured her hand as she tried to fight back. In a desperate bid for help, she shouted to her 12-year-old daughter, who was in the house with her at the time, to call her brother who lived nearby. Emma managed to escape to the kitchen where Coulson strangled her for the third time. He then grabbed a knife from the kitchen drawer and waved it around, blocking her from escaping through the back door.
Emma managed to get out into the garden and drove to her brother’s house, where she saw Coulson walking towards the property with the knife. He then pushed Emma’s sister-in-law into a bush and held a knife to her throat. Emma's nephew went to grab him and dislocated his shoulder.
Coulson then threw the knife in the direction of Emma’s sister-in-law. During this time, Emma managed to phone the police who were immediately sent to the scene. Coulson fled the area but was tracked down in a garden a short time later.
He later pleaded guilty to S47 assault, affray, possession of bladed article, non-fatal strangulation, assault of an emergency worker and racial abuse of an officer. On March 7, 2023, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison. He was also made the subject of a restraining order.
Despite seeing justice, Emma said the mental scars still remain. She said "I just want people to be aware of him. If it means helping save another girl, it’s worth it. The reason I pressed charges and went to court is because my little girl heard that.
"I don’t want my daughter to think that is okay to accept from any male growing up. Other girls need to know this guy is dangerous and he’s very clever at what he does."
Emma said she now struggles to sleep following the ordeal. She added: “I’ve had really bad anxiety and I struggle to sleep. You have these re-recurring images in your head. When I try to go to sleep, I’m more upset for my little girl who heard her mum in distress like that. That’s what bothers me. It’s just not right.
“I’ve got to the point where, as sad as it is, I just don’t want to be with anybody. I was trying to get to know someone recently and my guard went up straight away. I was looking for every red flag, ruining things because I’m picking things out straight away.
"I can’t tar everyone with the same brush, but it’s hard not to when it’s been your last scenario. I would rather be on my own than go through something like that ever again."
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