Police bodycam footage has captured the moment a controlling boyfriend was handcuffed and dragged off a plane at Manchester Airport after throwing prosecco in his partner’s face and threatening to kill her — the culmination of more than a year of abuse that left her afraid to trust anyone again.
Callum Coady, 27, of Heaton Mersey, Stockport, was detained by officers onboard the aircraft on 19 August 2023, after airport staff intervened following the attack on his partner Daisy Martin. The footage shows him being escorted off the plane with his hands behind his back, protesting “Do I look like I’d kill someone?” before complaining that he was “missing my flight.”
The incident that triggered his arrest had been captured on airport CCTV. Coady had become aggressive after spotting a message on Ms Martin’s Facebook account, shouting at her before hurling a glass of prosecco in her face and threatening to kill her in front of other passengers and staff.
Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard the airport confrontation was the most visible moment in a pattern of abuse that had been building for over a year. Specialist domestic abuse officers constructed the prosecution case by examining more than 35,000 messages recovered from Coady’s phone. The messages revealed what was described as a clear and persistent pattern of control, threats and manipulation throughout the relationship. Coady had forced Ms Martin to delete her social media accounts and had systematically isolated her from friends and family.
Coady pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour and was sentenced on Monday to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months. He was also handed a five-year restraining order, ordered to engage with probation services, and directed to pay £200 in compensation.
The human cost of the abuse was set out in a victim impact statement from Ms Martin, who described struggling daily with trust and her sense of identity. “He made me forget what love should feel like,” she said, adding that she constantly looked over her shoulder and felt anxious going to public places in case she encountered him. “My sense of safety is gone,” she told the court.
Detective Constable Elizabeth Andrews, who led the investigation, said the thousands of recovered messages had provided “a clear and disturbing insight into the level of control, manipulation and abuse” Ms Martin had been subjected to, and praised her courage in coming forward to pursue the case.
