Online Reporter
LONDON. — An abusive girlfriend made her lover pass out after grabbing his private parts in a “vice-like grip” and dragging him around the room — before leaving 58 bite marks on his genitals.
Wayne Coventry, 36, survived the wincing attack but just weeks later he would lose his life when Cordelia Farrell pounced again.
Now, his heartbroken family have spoken in a devastating episode of ITV’s True Crime Presents called Murder on a Knife’s Edge.
Wayne fell in love with a childhood sweetheart and was with her for 18 years.
They ended up having three children together.
His dad, Barry, described his son as someone who “made us laugh a lot” and his older brother, Sean, said he “always had a smile on his face like a Cheshire Cat”.
He “doted” on his three kids but eventually only saw them at weekends after his long-term relationship fizzled out.
Wayne eventually started a new relationship with Farrell, from Dainton Grove, Bartley Green, Birmingham.
His father took an “instant dislike to her” while Sean said: “When they got on they did get on — but when they didn’t it was bad.”
Farrell suffered from an underlying personality disorder and experts on the ITV show described her as “emotionally unstable, volatile and self-destructive”.
Before long, the relationship became controlling, and according to Wayne’s family, he was prevented from doing things he enjoyed and from seeing family members.
In one shocking admission, Sean said: “She used to phone him up while she was having sex with other men — just so he could hear it and it would get to him.”
His dad meanwhile said: “She used to threaten him a lot over the phone. I’ve even heard her turn around and threaten to kill him.”
Both family members urged Wayne to leave the relationship, but he insisted that he loved her dearly.
Wayne made a desperate call for help to the police, after Farrell badly hurt him.
Giving a stark description of what happened, Sean said:
“She went round to his flat and they were having a bit of food and a bit of drink and then she sort of pretended that she wanted to have sex, so she has put her hand down his pants, and the next thing you know she is grabbing on to his testicles and really badly pulling down on them.”
One detective said that during the vicious attack, Wayne was “literally pulled around the room” by his private parts.
Sean continued: “Because of the pain, my brother actually passed out at that stage. The next thing he remembers is coming around to her literally trying to bite it off. She was scary when she wanted to be . . . very.”
He added that “58 sets of teeth marks” were found on his genitals.
When Wayne found the strength to open the door to the emergency services, Farrell stabbed him in the back with a broken plate, before she was arrested.
Farrell claimed she was acting in self-defence and she chillingly told officers that “one of us is going to end up dead”.
After being let out of hospital, Sean said his brother was too embarrassed to acknowledge that he was being terrorised by a woman.
And despite a non-molestation order being in place, Wayne continued to see Farrell.
But things came to a brutal conclusion at Sean’s house in Broomsgrove, Worcestershire, on October 14, 2019.
Sean said he heard a commotion in the living room before he saw Farrell grab a kitchen knife while Wayne had his back turned.
He said that he shouted at Wayne and that as he turned, Farrell “plunged the knife right in him”.
She eventually handed herself in five days later before refusing to admit responsibility and claimed she did not intend to cause him serious harm.
She argued that she was defending herself from Wayne who she claimed put a knife to her back.
And giving evidence in court as a witness, Sean said: “When I was giving evidence on the stand and Cordelia was in the dock she was smiling at me as if it was something to laugh about.”
The victim’s father remembered: “She has got an evil streak in her, definitely.”
Much to the family’s disgust, Farrell was cleared of murder and was found guilty of manslaughter after a two-week trial at Worcester Crown Court.
She was sentenced to 10 years behind bars and was ordered to serve a minimum of seven and a half years. Farrell was also found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was sentenced to 18 months for assault, to be served concurrently. — Mirror
Mathew Masinge