A man who tried to kill his girlfriend after she discovered he was messaging other women has been jailed for 20 years.
Michael Cosgrove, 46, strangled his then-partner twice after they returned from a New Order concert in Manchester in August 2024. He reportedly told her “you are dead tonight” before leaving her unconscious in her own home in Heald Green, Stockport. Police burst into the property after a neighbour raised the alarm, and Cosgrove jumped from a first-floor window in an apparent escape attempt.
The court heard the couple had been arguing for days after the victim found dating app messages on Cosgrove’s phone. At the concert they seemed to get along, but back at the victim’s home she told him the relationship was over and that she wanted to stay at her mother’s house. Cosgrove then attacked her, pinning her to the bed and strangling her until she could not breathe. He told her: “We are both going to die tonight … you are dead tonight. I’m going to kill you and then kill myself.”
The woman lost consciousness during the second strangulation. She suffered extensive bruising, a fractured rib and burst blood vessels in her eye. Audio recorded by a neighbour during the attack became crucial evidence at trial.
Cosgrove, previously of Wythenshawe but of no fixed address, denied attempted murder and intentional strangulation but was convicted by a jury in February. Judge Baxter told him he had shown “no real remorse” and described the impact on the victim as “profound and long-lasting.”
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “What you did to me that night has changed me as a person forever … I will never understand how you could do that to me. All I ever showed you was love and you abused that in the worst possible way.”
Cosgrove will serve at least two-thirds of his 20-year sentence in prison, with the remainder on licence. He was also given a restraining order barring contact with his former partner. Greater Manchester Police praised the victim’s courage in helping secure the conviction.
