He said his address, I was in disbelief as I remembered tragic Caroline

We were sat next to each other for 90 minutes, both waiting outside a courtroom but for very different reasons.

He was there to defend himself against allegations of domestic violence. I was there to report on how the police are using new powers to prevent it with one of the first Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in the country set to be issued in the court that day.

Both cases would be heard in courtroom five. It's where domestic violence cases are dealt with at Manchester Magistrates' Court.

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But because domestic violence is so prevalent, there was a long queue of cases to get through. As we both waited to be called in by court staff, his phone rang and he told the person on the other end of the line where he was, assuring her that he's 'not in trouble'.

His nonchalant attitude made me think of David Liptrot, who brazenly confessed at a pub in Wigan last year that he had killed Caroline Gore the previous night, before singing Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline and snorting cocaine. Earlier that month, Liptrot was up in court for breaching a restraining order against Caroline, but was spared jail, just weeks before he brutally stabbed her to death.

Over the last few months, the Manchester Evening News has been campaigning for a mandatory minimum prison sentence for breaches of protective orders, like the one Liptrot repeatedly ignored - and was allowed to get away with. That's why I was in court.

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I wanted to see how the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders - which are currently being trialled in Bury before being rolled out to the rest of Greater Manchester next year - are being used. But after waiting for 90 minutes, I decided to see what else was happening that afternoon in the domestic violence courtroom. When the man who was sat next me was called up, I decided to follow him in.

I was curious as to what exactly he had been accused of, having just heard him refer to 'a restraining order' over the phone. I thought about Caroline's family, who, like so many domestic abuse survivors and the organisations supporting them, said that restraining orders 'aren't worth the the paper they're written on' and I wondered how this case - whatever it was about - would be dealt with.

I took my seat at the back of the courtroom as the man was asked to confirm his address. "Douglas House, Scholes, Wigan," he said.

Caroline's address - the same building where her abusive ex-partner lay in wait before murdering her in October 2023. I was in shock.

It transpired that the incident that led to this man's appearance in court happened in the same apartment block. He was accused of putting a knife to his partner's head and saying: "I can kill you." She didn't report it to the police, doubting he would ever get arrested, magistrates were told..

However, after concerns were raised about her welfare, he was eventually arrested. But he was not charged, the court heard.

Instead, Greater Manchester Police was applying for a Domestic Violence Protection Order which can prohibit a perpetrator from contacting the victim for up to 28 days. But in this case, the victim did not support it - and the defendant had a letter to prove it.

In the letter, which was read out in court, the victim said she had a 'drinking problem' and, on the night of the incident, she was in a particularly emotional state which led her to 'dream up' what she said had happened. She begged the court not to issue the order.

It made me think about Caroline, who said she had been drinking and couldn't really remember what happened when Liptrot turned up at her flat in breach of a restraining order in July 2023. She showed police bite marks which she said had been caused by Liptrot.

But she later indicated that she did not want him to be prosecuted for assault. The assault charge was dropped and a few months later he got a suspended sentence for breaching the restraining order, allowing him to walk free, just weeks before he killed Caroline.

This was not the only similarity with Caroline's case. Manchester Magistrates' Court heard that, like Liptrot, the defendant accused of threatening his partner with a knife a few weeks ago had a long history of previous convictions for many offences, including battery.

"The history shows a clear escalation of risk of violence," the court heard. The order was granted, prohibiting contact for 28 days.

What this defendant was accused of doing to his partner in Douglas House - a year after Caroline was killed in the very same building - is some way short of the horrific murder Liptrot committed. But the similarities between these cases are plain to see.

Unlike Liptrot - who admitted to unlawfully killing Caroline by stabbing her with a knife but denied murder - this defendant denied all the allegations put to him. And the allegations themselves pale in comparison to what Liptrot was eventually found guilty of doing.

This is not the kind of case that would usually be reported on. It's when threats turn to deadly violence that such a case gets covered.

But what it shows is that domestic violence can happen anywhere. Even in the very same building where it has already claimed a life.