Former civil servant was free to set fireplace and ‘virtually kill’ ex-wife as a result of officers didn’t name police when he eliminated digital tag

A former civil servant was free to stalk his ex-wife and set fire to her home because officials failed to call police after he removed his electronic tag.

Nicholas Martin, 63, was on bail for assaulting his former partner, Emma, when he tampered with the device – but no-one tried to locate him for four days.

During that time, he travelled more than 100 miles to Mrs Martin’s home, eventually pouring petrol through her letterbox in the middle of the night in a bid to kill her.

She only survived the blaze after jumping from her first-floor bedroom window, breaking both her ankles and a bone in her back in the process. Her pet cat died in the fire.

As Martin was jailed for 30 years for attempted murder, a judge criticised private security firm G4S, which provided the tag, and ordered an urgent inquiry into why officials failed to act when he went missing.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard that police were only alerted by chance five days after Martin disappeared – a day before the arson attack – when he failed to turn up at a support session.

But by then they had no clue where he had gone and he was able to carry out the attack unchecked just hours later.

‘There were six days, almost here, when nobody knew where the defendant was,’ Judge Maurice Greene said.

‘There was absolutely no purpose in the GPS tag. Had it been dealt with as it is supposed to be dealt with, then who knows, this (arson) may never have taken place.

‘There needs to be an inquiry at G4S, or into G4S, as to why this was allowed to happen. Had they acted appropriately, then Mr Martin should never have had the opportunity to commit this offence.’

The court heard that Martin and his wife, a mother-of-two who has a son and daughter from a previous relationship, had been together since meeting on a dating app in 2019.

They enjoyed a whirlwind romance and married shortly afterwards.

But Martin became abusive and increasingly controlling. He installed CCTV cameras at their home to monitor his wife’s movements, banned her from seeing family members and controlled what she wore, ate and watched on television.

In August 2021, during a holiday to celebrate Martin’s birthday in Scotland, the couple rowed and he attacked his wife. 

She was repeatedly shaken, thrown against walls and Martin refused to let her leave their accommodation during, what the court heard, was a ’vicious and sustained’ beating.

But Mrs Martin kept the attack a secret from friends and family and it was only after enduring several more years of abuse that she finally decided to report her husband to police last September.

He was subsequently charged with assaulting her during their holiday to Scotland three years earlier and made the subject of strict bail conditions, which included living in a hostel in Leicester, more than 100 miles away from their home, in Eccles, Greater Manchester, never contacting his wife and wearing an electronic tag to monitor his movements.

However, just a few weeks later, on October 16, security firm G4S received an alert to say the tag had been tampered with. The alert triggered a phone call to Martin, but he did not answer.

The following day officials decided they needed to visit Martin to establish his whereabouts, but that visit did not take place until four days later, on October 20.

By that stage Martin had fled the hostel, hired a car and travelled to Manchester, so he was not around when staff made their enquiries.

Despite this, they failed to contact police and instead Martin, a former senior civil servant with HM Revenue and Customs, who also worked as head of estates for Salford Royal Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary, was allowed to ‘stalk’ his wife for several days.

He booked into a hotel, eventually driving to her home to carry out the arson attack around 5am on October 22.

She only survived because the sound of the letterbox snapping shut woke her up and she heard ‘crackling sounds’ of the fire taking hold in the hallway.

Martin drove away but was arrested in Windermere, in the Lake District, the following day by officers who discovered a jerrycan full of petrol in a wardrobe in his hotel room.

He denied attempted murder, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour, insisting at trial that he never intended to kill his wife.

Martin was cleared of the coercive behaviour charge, but the jury found him guilty of trying to kill his wife and assault.

Sentencing Martin to three decades in prison, Judge Greene said he would most likely die behind bars.

‘This was a wicked, planned and premeditated attack carried out at a time when the victim was asleep, and therefore most vulnerable,’ the judge said.

In a powerful victim impact statement, Mrs Martin, who spent months in a wheelchair and still uses crutches to walk, said her ex-husband’s ‘vile and monstrous’ domestic abuse had ‘utterly devastated’ her life and that of close relatives. She said she feared she would die in the blaze.

‘I will forever remain wracked with guilt at how close my son and daughter came to the murder of their mum, and my mum came to the murder of her only child,’ she said.

‘I have spent many months in trauma therapy trying to develop strategies to manage the frequent flashbacks and nightmares of the fire.

‘The chilling memory of the clear thought that I was going to die, the choking feeling of smoke inhalation, and the fall as I jumped out of the bedroom window, will never leave me.

‘I am plagued by intrusive thoughts of what would have happened if there had been family members staying with me at my home.’

She also revealed that she felt so low in the immediate aftermath that she ‘wished’ she had died and it was only thanks to the ‘resilience, love and courage’ of relatives that got her ‘through the darkest days.’

‘I do not know if or how I will ever be able to rebuild some kind of life for myself as Martin has destroyed so much,’ she said.

Abbie Clarke, a senior crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service North West, said: ‘Nicholas Martin carefully planned and carried out a terrifying plot to murder his ex-partner. This vile act of cowardice nearly took his victim’s life.’

Detective Constable Zoe Bellis, of Greater Manchester Police, thanked Mrs Martin for having the courage to report him to police.

‘Martin undertook a campaign of abuse lasting a number of years,’ she said. 

‘His last act nearly resulted in a woman’s death and I am thankful…this despicable individual (is now) behind bars and away from harming other victims.

‘I want to express my heart-felt gratitude to the victim for her unwavering support throughout the investigation. Her strength has been instrumental in helping us build the strongest possible case against her abuser and ensuring he is held accountable.’

The officer urged anyone else suffering at the hands of domestic abusers to contact them.

‘We will provide support, conduct thorough investigations, and take firm action against offenders,’ she added. 

‘Your allegations will be taken seriously, and you will be treated with dignity and respect.’

A spokesman for Allied Universal Electronic Monitoring (previously G4S Monitoring Technologies) said: ‘Allied Universal Electronic Monitoring provides technology to the programme in England and Wales, but is not responsible for offender monitoring.’

The Ministry of Justice was contacted for comment.