A MUM has revealed how she escaped a horror four-hour rape attack at the hands of her Tinder lover by pretending she was dead.

Brave Sarah Smith*, 41, was savagely attacked by violent James McNutt, who held a pillow over her face as he brutally raped her.

The fiend had stamped on Sarah and smashed a glass over her head before booting her so hard in the back she was left with a footprint.

As he tried to smother her, the mum played dead and McNutt ran away before returning to her bedroom moments later where he discovered she was still alive.

Sarah managed to escape her horror ordeal using the Hollie Guard domestic violence app, which alerts emergency contacts if the user shakes their phone.

Reliving the nightmare, she told Birmingham Live: "I had to play dead because it was the only way to make him stop. I thought that if he thought I was dead, he’d run off, which he did.

'FOUR-HOUR ORDEAL'

"But then he came back again, ripped the pillow off and tried to wake me. Unfortunately, I started to cough so he knew I wasn't dead.

"The police had previously suggested I downloaded the Hollie Guard app which helps domestic violence victims. You shake your phone if you’re in trouble and it alerts your emergency contacts.

"So I started shaking my phone. He asked what I was doing and I told him, saying you need to go because they are going to be here in a minute.

"To this, he said you’re coming with me. So I had to get dressed and walk out of the house. Fortunately, there was a neighbour outside working on his car and I got free from his arm and ran. The neighbour called the police.

"The whole ordeal lasted about four hours. That app saved my life."

COUPLE MET ON TINDER

Sarah met McNutt on Tinder in April last year and the pair exchanged numbers and soon began dating.

But the "charming" and "lovely guy" became controlling and bombarded Sarah with text messages and phone calls – causing her young daughter to stay with her grandparents when he came over.

The thug also isolated Sarah from her friends and she had to pay for his lifestyle after he quit working as a male escort.

But his behaviour soon turned violent and on one occasion, he grabbed Sarah by the throat during a row so she fled to her family and called the police.

'IT WAS AWFUL'

The mum said: "He disappeared then bombarded me with messages, saying he was about to commit suicide. He threatened to jump off a cliff in Wales, it was awful.

"That went on for about a week with him begging me to drop the charges. So I did because I decided I didn’t want his death on my conscience."

Sarah ended the relationship but met with McNutt in a pub in Birmingham last August for "one last drink" before he moved to Scotland for a new job.

The brute persuaded Sarah to let him go back to hers but when her family showed up for a party, McNutt left and Sarah believed the ordeal was over.

NIGHTMARE ORDEAL

She said: "I went to go to bed and forget about it.

"But the next thing I knew, he came back through the back door and that’s when he attacked me. He locked me in the house and, when I went to grab my phone, he went into a wild rage, saying I’d been cheating on him.

"He beat me up badly, stamping over me, smashing a glass over my head and giving me a black eye. He stamped on my back so hard there was a footprint on it.

"He strangled me as he raped me. He put a pillow over my face, trying to smother me."

Sarah was forced to undergo "horrific" internal examinations at a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) and moved to a Women's Aid refuge after McNutt fled the scene.

FIVE OTHER ATTACKS ON WOMEN

The monster even carried on messaging Sarah while on the run and threatened to take his own life without ever apologising for the horror.

He was eventually arrested while boozing in a pub and Sarah discovered he had battered five other women – with "each attack was worse than the last one".

McNutt, who has previous convictions for domestic violence, was last week sentenced to 13 years in jail at Birmingham Crown Court for rape and engaging in controlling behaviour.

Sarah is now trying to move on her with life but has attempted suicide twice and suffers depression as a result of the attack.

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She has bravely opened up about the ordeal to warn other women and encourage rape and domestic abuse victims to press charges.

The mum said: "Looking back, there was so much stuff leading up to it, it was all there, so many worrying signs but I didn’t realise what the outcome would be.

"I want to warn other people to spot the signs – and act on them straight away."

*Sarah's name has been changed to protect her identity

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