Elisha Greer describes her month of captivity as abductor is due to be sentenced

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A British backpacker who was kidnapped and raped by a man in Australia has spoken of her terrifying ordeal, which lasted more than a month.

Elisha Greer, 24, from Liverpool, was held captive for weeks by Marcus Martin, who she said beat her and held a gun to her head. She required hospital treatment for injuries including facial fractures after eventually being found by police near Mitchell, Queensland, in March 2017.

In an interview with Australian broadcaster Channel 7, Greer said she had met Martin at a party in Cairns, Queensland, on 26 January that year. “He just seemed like a nice guy,” she told a reporter for the Sunday Night programme.

After the pair exchanged numbers, Martin moved into Greer’s hotel and began asking her for money.

Marcus Martin is to be sentenced this month. Photograph: 7 News

Greer, then aged 21, said Martin obtained a gun for “protection” and took her along with him to rob a drug dealer. “I was forced to drive the car with the gun to my head,” she said.

Later, a drugged Martin launched a violent attack on Greer, hitting, raping and choking her until she passed out. “He turned around and he just started to hit me, hit me, hit me,” she said.

Despite apologising after each assault, Martin’s controlling behaviour did not stop.

Greer said he threw away her birth control pills “to try and get me pregnant”. She added: “Maybe he thought that he could control me more if I was with his child.”

On 1 March, they embarked on a 1,600-mile road trip south of Cairns, during which Martin’s abusive behaviour continued.

In one incident, he shoved Greer on to the floor between the car door and seats, breaking her nose and turning her face purple, she said.

She became so desperate to escape that she even contemplated killing Martin, but was worried things would grow worse if an attempt went wrong. During one stop on their journey she left an unanswered plea for help in a visitor’s book.

After five days of driving, the pair stopped for petrol at a service station in the town of Mitchell and Greer drove away without paying. The attendant called the police, and when officers investigated the car, they found Martin hiding in a back seat.

Greer described the injuries inflicted by Martin: “He broke my nose, split my eyebrow open, I had various amounts of bite marks all up and down my arms, I had bite marks on my face, he had stabbed me in the neck with the key, I had two black eyes, handprints all over my body from bruises. So many bruises.”

Martin, 24, of Cairns, pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and one count of deprivation of liberty in October last year and is due to be sentenced on 28 May.