Former civil servant was free to set fire and ‘almost kill’ ex-wife because officials failed to call police when he removed electronic tag

A former officer was free to stalk his ex-wife and set her house on fire because authorities did not call the police after he removed his electronic tag.

Nicholas Martin, 63, was released on bail for attacking his former partner Emma by tampering with the device, but no-one tried to locate him for four days.

During this time he drove more than 100 miles to Ms Martin’s home and eventually poured petrol into her letterbox in the middle of the night in an attempt to kill her.

He only escaped the fire after jumping from his first-floor bedroom window, breaking both his ankles and a bone in his back in the process. His pet cat died in the fire.

While Martin was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempted murder, a judge criticized private security company G4S, which provided the tag, and ordered an urgent investigation into why authorities failed to take action when Martin disappeared.

Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard police were accidentally alerted when Martin failed to turn up for a support session five days after his disappearance – the day before the arson attack.

But by then they had no idea where he was going, and he was able to carry out the attack unchecked several hours later.

“There were almost six days here where no one knew where the defendant was,” Judge Maurice Greene said.

Mrs. Martin’s house and belongings were destroyed in the fire

The staircase inside Mrs. Martin’s house after it was set on fire

‘The GPS tag had absolutely no purpose. If this incident had been properly intervened, who knows, maybe this (arson) would never have happened.

‘There needs to be an investigation at or within G4S as to why this was allowed to happen. ‘If they had acted appropriately Mr Martin would never have had the opportunity to commit this offence.’

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

They had a whirlwind romance and got married shortly after.

However, Martin became abusive and increasingly controlling. He installed CCTV cameras in their home to monitor his wife’s movements, banned her from meeting 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 Martin attacked his wife.

She was repeatedly shaken, thrown against walls and Martin refused to allow her to leave his home, a ‘vicious and sustained’ beating, the court heard.

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

He was later accused of assaulting her during their holiday to Scotland three years ago and was made the subject of strict bail conditions; these conditions included living in a boarding house in Eccles, Leicester, Greater Manchester, more than 100 miles from their home, never contacting his wife, and wearing an electronic tag to track his movements.

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

Martin (pictured in a police van) immediately following his arrest in the Lake District

The next day, authorities decided they needed to visit Martin to find out his whereabouts, but this visit did not occur until four days later, on 20 October.

By this stage Martin had escaped from the hostel, hired a car and driven to Manchester, so he was not around when staff were investigating.

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

He booked a hotel and eventually went to the woman’s home around 5 a.m. on October 22 to carry out the arson attack.

The only reason he survived was because the sound of the mailbox slamming shut woke him up and he heard the ‘crackling’ of fire spreading down the hallway.

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

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

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

Sentencing Martin to thirty years in prison, Judge Greene said he would likely die behind bars.

“This was a vicious, 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 was in a wheelchair for months and still uses crutches to walk, said her ex-husband’s ‘vile and monstrous’ domestic abuse had ‘completely devastated’ her life and that of her close relatives. He said he was afraid he would die in the fire.

‘I will forever feel guilty when I see how close my son and daughter came to killing their mother, and how close my mother came to killing her only child,’ he said.

‘I spent 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 suffocating feeling of breathing in smoke and falling as I jumped out of the bedroom window will never leave me.

‘I am plagued by disturbing thoughts of what would happen if I had family members staying with me in my home.’

He also revealed that he felt so bad immediately after the incident that he ‘explored’ dying, and that it was only thanks to the ‘resilience, love and courage’ of his relatives that he got through the ‘darkest days’.

‘With Martin destroying so much, I don’t know if or how I can rebuild some kind of life for myself,’ she said.

Abbie Clarke, senior prosecutor for the North West Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘Nicholas Martin carefully planned and carried out a horrific plot to murder his former partner. This vile cowardice almost took the life of his victim.’

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

‘Martin embarked on a campaign of harassment that lasted several years,’ he said.

‘His last act almost resulted in the death of a woman and for that I am grateful… this despicable individual is now behind bars and away from harming other victims.

‘I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the victim for her unwavering support throughout the investigation. ‘Her strength helped us build the strongest possible case against her abuser and ensure he was held accountable.’

The officer urged anyone who has suffered at the hands of domestic abusers to contact them.

“We will provide support, conduct thorough investigations and take tough action against criminals,” he added.

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

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

A spokesman for Serco, which monitors criminals on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the victim in this case and we are pleased to see the sentence handed down.’