The man accused of murdering Susan Waring from Darwen tortured another woman with his pet ferret, a court has heard.

The alleged victim is said to be one of four women that Alan Edwards, 48, regularly assaulted before the prosecution say he went on to murder missing Susan Waring in 2019.

Edwards claimed he last saw Ms Waring, 45, as she kissed him goodbye and walked out of his flat in Darwen, Lancashire, at the end of January 2019, but the Crown say he is lying and is responsible for her death.

Ms Waring's mother reported her missing several days later, but despite extensive police inquiries, her whereabouts are unknown and there is no evidence to say she is alive, Preston Crown Court was told.

Edwards denies being violent and controlling with Ms Waring during their “turbulent” relationship and also with the other women dating back to the 1990s.

One of those women told the jury about a number of assaults she said Edwards inflicted on her, including an incident involving his ferret.

Edwards put her up against a wall and then kicked her repeatedly to the legs while he wore steel toe-capped boots, she said.

Later she was left in “excruciating pain”, she said, when he used a knife to pick at the scabs of the wounds.

But her ordeal was not over as she was tied to a chair and Edwards brought out the animal which gnawed at her injured legs.

The witness confirmed she did not seek treatment at the time.

John Jones, QC, defending, asked her: “Why not consult medical opinion?”

She said: “I was too frightened of Alan to consult anybody.”

When Mr Jones suggested to her the the incident simply did not happen, the witness replied: “I still have scars.”

Mr Jones said: “The incident is so extreme you would have said something to someone.”

The woman said: “I never told anybody anything.”

She said that Edwards had also pointed a gun at her head and thrown her off a first-floor balcony.

The woman told the court: “He behaved horrendous towards me.”

Edwards, of Blackburn Road, denies murder, causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and making threats to kill.