Police have freed a woman in Torre del Mar who had been held at knifepoint for six hours in her apartment by her ex-partner, against whom a restraining order was in force.
The woman managed to make a call to the Emergency Services to say she was being confined in her apartment and police went to investigate.
The apartment was on the fifth floor of a nine storey building and the lights had been turned off and the blinds drawn. Attempts to reach the woman by phone were unsuccessful.
Police officers spent thirty minutes trying to calm the man, a 48 year old, and to try and get him to surrender. The attempts failed and a second plan was put into operation.
Firemen, located on the floor above, distracted the attacker by banging on the windows while police broke into the apartment. They succeeded in disarming and subduing the attacker without anyone being hurt.
The man was duly arrested and is being held on suspicion of domestic abuse, false imprisonment and breach of a court order.