A WOMAN jumped from a third storey window to escape her ex-boyfriend who allegedly threatened her with a hammer and set fire to the carpet, a court has heard.

Patrick Blenman, of Consort Avenue, Cambridge, is on trial at Reading Crown Court charged with threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend as well as false imprisonment, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and arson. He denies the charges.

The incident happened on August 10, 2021, in Sandhurst, Bracknell Forest, when the 56-year-old allegedly locked the woman in her third floor apartment and threatened her using a hammer and a knife before setting fire to her carpet.

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The court heard, the woman jumped from the window after locking herself in her bathroom to avoid Blenman. She was swiftly taken to hospital but suffered no broken bones.

Prosecuting, Jonathan Sank said: “A hammer. A knife. A front door with a bolt and a padlock. A burnt carpet. A third storey window. The hammer and the knife were used by this defendant to threaten [the alleged victim] in this case.

“Mr Blenman locked her front door from the inside with a bolt and a padlock so she couldn’t escape. He set fire to the carpet and, for fear of her life, she jumped out of that third storey window.

“Fortunately, she survived. She phoned the police and near the end of that call you hear her jump out that window.

“She was taken to hospital and though she was in pain she had no broken bones. Meanwhile, the defendant refused to open the door to the police.

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“Police arrived as the incident was reaching its conclusion. Other officers forced that front door open and found Blenman stood there holding the knife.

“The knife which [the alleged victim] had been threatened with. After a significant period of time he surrendered the knife and was arrested.”

Blenman was taken in for a police interview where he denied the allegations. He told police he ‘didn’t know’ why the woman had jumped from the window.

The jury were played a recording of the woman’s phone call to the police. She told them she had locked herself in her bathroom as her ex-boyfriend was threatening to kill her.

She could be heard saying: “He strangled me and he’s not leaving. He said I’m going to die. He held a hammer to my head.

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“I need to get out or he’s going to kill me. He’s outside the door. Please help me. Please hurry up. Hurry up he’s burning the carpet.

“He’s trying to get in the door. How long? How long?”

The trial, which is expected to last a week, continues.