A mother was strangled and punched by her friend when he "trapped" her in his flat overnight - after inviting her in for a brew.
Chantelle Griffiths, 44, was walking home when she bumped into her childhood friend Michael Scully, 52, and was invited around to a flat he was living in at the time for "a brew" on July 15, 2026.
But when she went to leave, around four hours later, to pick up her son, 11, from school, Scully told her she couldn't leave and became aggressive.
As the hours went on, Scully became more aggressive. He also became physically and verbally abusive, and at one point he took Chantelle's phone and removed the SIM card.
He then came up behind her and put his arm around her neck and strangled her.
Chantelle's terrifying ordeal came when she was able to leave the flat the next morning after she was able to contact the police.
Scully was arrested by police officers in an alleyway.
On September 14 2026, Scully pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court to intentional strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault on an emergency worker, and racially aggravated intentional harassment.
Three days later, Scully was sentenced to three years and four months in prison and was also imposed with an indefinite restraining order at Bradford Crown Court.
Chantelle, a stay-at-home mum, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, said: "I thought I was going to die.
"If I didn't get out of that flat, I don't think I would be here today.
"I remember when he was hitting me, he said, 'you're going to die today'.
"He told my son that he was not going to have a mum; he is traumatised by all this.
"Three years and four months is an insult - he should have got longer.
"I do not think that I have got justice.
"I nearly died; he wasn't strangling me to keep me awake. He was doing it to murder me."
Chantelle had known Scully since they were 11 years old.
She said the pair had an on-and-off relationship but had always remained friends.
On July 17, 2025, Chantelle had gone to the shop to get a pint of milk when she bumped into Scully.
"I went in and saw Michael there in the shop," Chantelle said.
"When I left, he asked if I wanted to go in for a brew - he said he wanted to talk to me.
"I went to his; I didn't even have a brew, but I wanted to get it over with as we weren't talking at the time."
But a few hours later, when Chantelle tried to leave to pick up her son from school, Scully told her she couldn't go.
Chantelle said Scully told her to ring her son and ask him to come to his flat.
"I was trying to leave; I told Michael that I needed to go and cook my son tea," Chantelle said.
"But he wouldn't let me go; he took my phone and removed my SIM card so I couldn't call anyone.
"He was living in a high-rise flat. I had nowhere to go."
Chantelle said she kept bargaining with Scully to leave, but he wouldn't let her.
At one point, Scully came up behind Chantelle and put his arm around her neck and strangled her.
Chantelle said: "He had both arms wrapped around my neck; I could feel my body shutting down.
"When he let go of me, I was gasping for air; he then dragged me by my hair across the room and whacked my head off the wall.
"He kept telling me that I was going to die, and if the police came to his flat, I would be dead before they got here."
Chantelle's horror didn't end there. She said she spent most of the night in and out of consciousness after Scully repeatedly hit her around the head.
The next morning came, and Chantelle tried to get Scully to let her go, but he wasn't letting up. But Chantelle had a plan on how to alert people that something was wrong.
Speaking to Talk to the Press, she said: "I told Michael that I needed to use his phone to ring the school.
"I told them that my son had sickness and diarrhoea, then the school asked whose number I was calling from.
"I knew that calling from a different number would set alarm bells ringing.
"Then the police called that same number. I told the police that my son was getting his baby teeth out.
"I told them a different story so that they would work out something was wrong."
Chantelle's terrifying ordeal came to an end a few hours later when Scully was arrested by the police in an alleyway by his flat.
Following his arrest, Scully became agitated in a police station cell and subjected a custody inspector to racial abuse.
Chantelle said: "I remember walking down the stairs from Michael's flat and I kept collapsing.
"Police then took me to the station, where they took photos of my injuries.
"I was then taken to the hospital where they did drug tests, and they told me I had a concussion."
In September 2026, Scully pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court to intentional strangulation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault on an emergency worker, and racially aggravated intentional harassment.
The judge sentenced Scully to three years and four months in prison and issued an indefinite restraining order to protect Chantelle.
Chantelle said: "When I was trapped in that flat, I thought I was going to die.
"I thought my son was going to grow up without a mum."
Speaking during the court case, the Judge said: “Inside, she feels broken, frightened and overwhelmed.
"In short, the victim’s whole life has, to use her words, been destroyed by this incident.”