A MOTHER who was almost strangled by a bodybuilder she met on a dating website said she only survived the attack by gouging at his eyes with her false nails.

Divorcee Debora Colman, 42, was wooed by sales rep Vincent Cunningham, 49, on the Plenty of Fish site.

But the “controlling” father-of-one flew into a drunken rage, attacking her after she returned home from work. He held her hands around her neck, but she broke free and fought back with her bright pink gel nails and she fled in her car before calling the police.

Cunningham was arrested and is serving almost three years in prison for the attack and a separate assault.

Ms Colman, of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, said: “My nails saved my life. Without them I would be dead. I remember lying on the floor as Vincent was hunched over me and had his full weight – 17 stone – on my chest.

“I could feel his hands around my neck and there was this terrifying look in his eyes – they were jet black. He was chanting about the devil and saying, ‘I am going to take you to the dark side.’ “I couldn’t struggle any more, my body was dying. I thought, ‘I am going to die.’ I remember thinking in my last moment that I wanted him to give my body back to my family. But unbelievably, I found some inner strength. Somehow I managed to put my hands through the gap in his arms.

“I had acrylic nails – I get them done every week – and I grabbed his face.

“I pushed my thumbs into his eyes and gouged them. That was the only reason he got off me.”