Amy killer was a "violent bully"

But behind closed doors Ricardo Morrison was a violent bully.

The 22-year-old could not stand seeing his model girlfriend Amy Barnes having a good time with her friends.

He imagined a future together in which party-loving Amy would play the doting wife and he would often criticise her for not cooking for him.

He set up a Facebook account which the couple shared, called Mr and Mrs Morrison, so he could keep an eye on who she was friends with and who she was talking to.

And the possessive Morrison would beat Amy so she was terrified to go out with her friends, and constantly ring and text her to find out where she was.

He played the role of successful businessman, owning two properties in Birmingham, and claiming to have £600,000 in a bank account - but despite his supposed wealth he still lived in Amy’s grandmother’s terraced house in Farnworth.

Whatever his public image, to Amy’s family he will always be the conman, the monster, the man who worked his way into their lives before taking their precious daughter away from them.

Morrison moved up to Bolton about eight weeks after the couple met and stayed with Amy’s family in Egerton.

Amy’s mother, Karyn Killiner, said: “Amy said she liked him because he was a normal boy. At first he was very charming and kind and he would write us letters to say thank you for letting him stay.

“He said we were like a mother and father to him and that we gave him a home when he needed one.

“We could see that there were a few arguments but nothing that worried us, we thought it was normal as they were a young couple learning to get along together.”

But then everything changed.

When Mrs Killiner and her husband John went away to Italy in July last year, they received a disturbing phone call from Morrison.

Mrs Killiner said: “We felt confident that we could leave them both at home to look after each other and the dogs.

“But I got a phone call and he was screaming down the phone at me and said to get Amy to call him.

“I tried to reassure him but he put the phone down on me. I phoned Amy and she told me there had been an incident the night before when they were out in Bolton and he assaulted her.

“He was abusive to her and the police were called but she told me not worry because she was safe.

“The police came to speak to her because he had been abusing emergency services staff down the phone. He was arrested and was in hospital for a bit.”

Mr and Mrs Killiner decided that Morrison could no longer live at their home, and he and Amy moved to her grandmother’s spare room in Moss Street, Farnworth.

Their relationship became more violent, but Amy would not confide in her family and wanted to deal with it in her own way.

But a few weeks before her death she sought help and arranged an appointment at Fortlice, a domestic violence organisation in Bolton. She was due to visit on the Monday before she was killed.

The family are still trying to come to terms with what has happened.

Mrs Killiner said: “I want the world to know what he was like.

“He was a conman and he integrated himself into our family. He was charming and said how much he loved you.

“But the other side of him is controlling and he had complete power over Amy and all her actions.

“He would say the most disgusting things to her and would send abusive text messages and tried to stop her from seeing me. He is an absolute monster and no language can describe him.”

Amy is not the first girl that Morrison has attacked.

In 2005 he was charged with actual bodily harm, common assault and harassment on an ex-girlfriend in Birmingham.

He was given a 24 month community order, including 200 hours unpaid work and supervision. He was also given a restraining order and fined £550.

That behaviour carried on with Amy.

During the trial, jurors heard from a procession of friends who had received texts and phone calls from Amy about Morrison’s violent abuse, in the weeks leading up to her death.

Morrison was arrested in Birmingham after he hit Amy at a nightclub in the city on a night out. He later locked her out of their apartment while she was wearing just her underwear.

On October 26 last year the couple had gone to London to celebrate Amy’s 19th birthday.

They were at Zebranos, an upmarket bar, when a group of four girls politely asked Morrison to move because he was standing in the way of the booth they had reserved.

But he refused, and an argument followed which resulted in Morrison losing his temper. He became violent and attempted to smash one of the girls in the face with a bottle.

Just two weeks later he stabbed Amy to death.

Andrew Barnes, Amy’s father, who found her in a pool of blood just minutes after Morrison’s frenzied knife attack on her, said: “I think his defence was laughable. Anyone with any compassion for anyone or decency could not do that. He could not leave the one he loves and walk away.”

Like Mrs Killiner, Amy’s father had at first been taken in by Morrison, bur gradually realised all was not as it seemed in their relationship.

Mr Barnes said: “He came across as a quiet person. He had been round for tea and he was quietly spoken.

“But I became very wary after an argument which resulted in Amy throwing him out.

“I would pick her up in a morning and drop her off because she worked near my garage.

“But every time she got in the van he would be ringing or texting her asking where she was. I told her that at 19 she did not need the hassle and thought she was working up to getting rid of him and getting him out of her life.

“We were aware that the relationship was not healthy but did not realise the potential of what he could do.

“She knew that she needed to get out of the relationship, but we thought if we pushed him away that it would push her away too.”

For Amy’s family, the trial was difficult, as the details of Morrison’s violence against Amy came out.

Dawn Halton-Barnes, Amy’s step-mother, said: “Amy has never discussed what it was like to Andrew, we did not find out until the court case.”

Harder still is the knowledge that they have lost their precious daughter: “We will never get to see Amy walk down the aisle or have any grandchildren and it is just not fair.”