'I cried for days': Domestic abuse survivor devastated after being told ex's jail term could be halved
Michael Cosgrove, 46, was sentenced to 20 years for strangling Kerry Allan so brutally that the blood vessels in her eyes burst. But the MoJ have contacted Ms Allan to warn her he will be getting out early
Trigger Warning: Domestic abuse, violence, suicide.
A victim of horrific domestic abuse has told LBC she has been left frightened and feeling insulted after being told her ex-partner will have his 20-year sentence halved due to a lack of prison places.
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Michael Cosgrove, 46, strangled Kerry Allan so brutally that the blood vessels in her eyes burst, and when police officers found her unconscious they thought she was dead.
Cosgrove, of Livingston Avenue, Wythenshawe, escaped out of a bedroom window as police raided his home and was later found hiding in the boot of Kerry’s car. He was found guilty of attempted murder and intentional strangulation at a hearing in Manchester in February 2025, but the Ministry of Justice has already contacted Kerry to warn her he will be getting out early.
She told LBC: "I received a phone call from Victim Support telling me that as of August, because of the increase in prison populations, he'll have his sentence halved, and it's a blanket decision being made across the UK.
"I cried my eyes out for days and days. I felt heartbroken by it, and I completely spiralled.”
In a follow-up letter, Kerry was told: "I understand that receiving this information may be difficult, and we recognise the lasting impact the offence may have had on you.
"I wanted to assure you that there is no immediate action for you to take at this time. You will receive a further letter about this by the end of August, which will confirm if changes will or will not be made to the release date for an offender in your case.”
Kerry told LBC she is horrified that she is already having to deal with the thought of him being released, she said: “I feel like it's like a ticking time bomb. That's how I feel. And I feel like when he's released, I'm gonna have this constant worry when I'm out. Constant. I've been told that he'll have restrictions about where he can go to and stuff like that, but that doesn't make me feel better. Dangerous people don't care about things like that.
"It can't just be a blanket decision because that's not acceptable. It’s disgraceful for people to do abhorrent crimes and it not to be looked at. For somebody to be convicted of attempted murder and then to have sentences like, I feel like it diminishes what happened to me.
"This isn't just me. There's going to be so many other people that are in my position. There's going to be so many dangerous men and women out there that are dangerous, that will do this again. And it puts people in danger."
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This government is fixing the prison crisis it inherited – building 14,000 more prison places and reforming sentencing so we can always lock up dangerous criminals. Without this decisive action, prisons would have run out of space entirely, making it impossible for convicted offenders to be sent to prison and risking the complete breakdown of the criminal justice system, putting the public at untold risk.
“Public safety and supporting victims is our top priority. Offenders who a judge has deemed the most dangerous are automatically blocked from early release, and prisoners who behave badly while behind bars face being locked up for longer.
“Anyone who is released faces tough rules such as restrictions on their movements, tagging, being banned from attending public events, pubs and clubs, backed by our record £700m investment into probation and 1,300 extra probation officers.”