Evil Ryan Wellings has been sentenced to six years in jail for his campaign of terror against his former fiancée Kiena Dawes, which devastatingly culminated in her taking her own life.
The thug, from Bispham, Lancashire, was found guilty of assault and controlling and coercive behaviour at Preston Crown Court, with Judge Altham telling Wellings, who smiled as he left the dock at his sentencing on Thursday, that he is a “clear danger to any partner” he has in future.
After enduring more than two years of sick threats, violence and mental terror, Kiena felt there was nowhere left to turn. In a harrowing suicide note, the 23-year-old wrote how she’d been ‘tortured’ until there was ‘nothing left’. She said: “I lost my fight but I didn’t give up my battle. I fought till the end. Ryan Wellings killed me.”
But Wellings, who became the first defendant to be tried before a jury accused of the unlawful killing of his partner by causing her suicide, was cleared of her manslaughter. Touching on Kiena’s suicide, Judge Altham said: “The jury acquitted you of her manslaughter, so I must sentence you on the basis you have no criminal responsibility for her death; however, from May 2020, you abused, demeaned and belittled her, and by the time she died it was plain she believed your lies. None of it was true.”
Monster Ryan Wellings’ new lookalike girlfriend left flowers for dead Kiena Dawes in sick twist
Sadly, Wellings is one in a long list of abusers who got away with horrendous domestic violence until it was too late. On average, one woman is killed by an abusive partner or ex every five days in England and Wales, according to charity Refuge.
It’s the reason we launched our Mirror Justice for Our Daughters campaign, which advocates that anyone guilty of domestic violence should receive the punishment they deserve. In December last year a significant breakthrough came, with the Ministry of Justice announcing judges will have the option to consider stronger sentences for murders when the killing is connected to the end of a relationship.
Ministers also instructed the Law Commission to review sentences for homicide, to end the anomaly whereby someone who kills someone with a weapon in the home gets a shorter mandatory sentence than the same crime outside of a domestic setting.
Queen Camilla recently had her say too, backing a nationwide pop-up scheme in schools to help young people at risk of domestic abuse. Although monsters like Wellings are being sentenced at an alarming rate, the true toll of domestic abuse across the country is still unknown, as many women live in fear of reporting the crime. Here, the Mirror looks at just some of the men who subjected their partners – current and former – to sadistic violence before their tragic deaths…
Kiena Dawes
Kiena left a note which said her partner Wellings was “responsible” for her murder
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Her fiancé’s cocaine-fuelled rages had left her fearing for her life
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Young mum Kiena Dawes tragically said goodbye to her little girl for the last time before taking her own life after suffering abuse at the hands of her fiancé. The 23-year-old endured two years of torment from Ryan Wellings – who regularly flew into cocaine-fuelled fits of rage – leaving a broken Kiena fearing for her life.
His campaign of terror saw the mum-of-one seek help on several occasions, however it is only now that the true extent of her torment has been laid bare after a court found Wellings guilty of assault, coercive behaviour and prolonged domestic violence following her suicide. The 30-year-old was sentenced to six years on Thursday.
The hairdresser, from Fleetwood in Lancashire, left a note with her daughter when she dropped her off at a friend’s house on July 22, 2022, stating that Wellings was responsible for her ‘murder’. However, following a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court, Wellings was cleared of her manslaughter.
Kiena’s body was found by police near Barnacre. Her death came 11 days after one final assault by her partner that left a bloody gash on her head. She reported the incident to police, with Wellings bailed on the condition not to contact Ms Dawes.
However on July 17, he called her in the early hours from his ex-partner’s phone with threats. When Ms Dawes reported the call to police, it wasn’t treated as a breach of bail, which left her feeling ‘unsupported’. Ms Dawes had kept a meticulous list on the Notes app on her phone of all the times Wellings abused her or cruelly assaulted her. This log, disguised as an ordinary shopping list, was later analysed by police.
Lisa Welford
A passer-by tried to save Lisa but she died the following day in hospital
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Pretending to help his ex-partner Lisa Welford after claiming she’d jumped into the River Derwent in Malton, North Yorkshire, in April last year, Vincent Morgan, 47, held her head underwater. She was only dragged to safety after a passer-by summoned help but tragically, she died in hospital the next day.
Morgan, who was later jailed for life in December, was on police bail at the time of the murder, North Yorkshire Police later revealed, which saw the force refer itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct. Police said Morgan had a “long history of physical abuse against Lisa” and also disclosed he was subject to his third Domestic Violence Prevention Order (DVPO).
Morgan was on police bail when he killed his ex by holding her head underwater
The killer had a history of attacking his partners before he formed a relationship with Lisa, 49, Leeds Crown Court was told. A former girlfriend told how she ended up “clinging to the railings for dear life” after he tried to send her plunging into the water and said “when he was drinking, he was evil”. Morgan was banned from contacting or being with Lisa under a court order, the trial heard, but the pair ended up walking down a path which runs alongside the River Derwent near Malton bus station.
Holly Newton
Holly’s parents campaigned for her death to be classed as domestic abuse rather than a knife crime
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MacPhail embarked on a campaign of terror, culminating in murder, when his girlfriend ended their relationship
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“Jealous” ex-boyfriend Logan MacPhail, 17, stabbed 15-year-old Holly Newton 36 times in an alleyway after stalking her for an hour in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023. He was convicted of her murder last year following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court. However her heartbroken parents said her killing should be classified as domestic violence rather than a knife crime. At his sentencing hearing on October 31 last year at Newcastle Crown Court, Holly’s mother, Micala Trussler, read out her moving victim statement in the courtroom, watched by MacPhail via a videolink.
Mrs Trussler, a mother-of-four, said: “The enormity and severity cannot be put into words. I was stopped from seeing my daughter in the alleyway and the ambulance due to the horrifying condition she was in. My daughter died not knowing her mam was by her side. Once at hospital, I was unable to even touch my daughter, hug her, kiss her or hold her hand. My daughter was a crime scene, she was evidence.”
The teens had met at army cadets and had been in an on-off relationship for 18 months until a couple of days before the stabbing. Mrs Trussler described MacPhail as mild-mannered and polite during his regular visits to their home in Haltwhistle, Northumberland. Things changed when Holly matured and decided to end the relationship, her mother said.
She believed her daughter was the victim of domestic abuse, although she was under 16 at the time, and was caused emotional turmoil by her ex-partner. He changed her social media passwords and made her believe he could hack into her accounts as well as threatening to self-harm.
Caroline Gore
Caroline’s sister Jo felt the justice system had failed her
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An abusive man who was spared jail for breaching a restraining order for a second time stabbed his ex-partner to death just weeks later – prompting calls for a law change. David Liptrot, 56, was found guilty of murdering Caroline Gore, 43, after he knifed her seven times in her flat at Douglas House, Wigan, in December 2023. Manchester Crown Court heard that he waited inside the property for three hours and left the flat 15 minutes after carrying out the horrific attack.
The following day, he confessed the murder to a pub punter, saying: “I’ve killed Caroline.” At the start of the murder trial, prosecutor Alaric Bassano said the pair had an “on-off, toxic relationship” that involved “excessive drinking” and “physical violence”. Liptrot had a string of convictions for domestic violence, including recent offences against “vulnerable” Caroline. In August and again in October of 2022, he was convicted of battery against the cleaner and was slapped with a two-year restraining order, preventing him from contacting her.
Liptrot had breached a restraining order for a second time before he stabbed his ex to death
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However, In March 2023, Liptrot was sentenced to 30 weeks in prison for stalking and breaching the restraining order and on October 3 of that year, he was convicted for breaching the order again – but this time, he was spared jail. According to prosecutors, Caroline called the police after Liptrot had been at her flat following his release from prison.
She showed them an injury which she said had been caused by him biting her. This was visible on body-worn footage and later noted by her GP. Liptrot received a 10-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to breaching the order – but an assault charge was dropped. Weeks later, and just five days before he went on to kill her, he tried to have the order rescinded by the court.
Days after her sister’s killer was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for murder, Jo Gore said the justice system had failed Caroline by letting him walk free weeks earlier. “She’d still be here now if they’d kept him in, like they should have done,” she told Manchester Evening News.
Chloe Holland
Marc Masterson was sentenced to 41 months for coercive and controlling behaviour
He told his partner Chloe to kill herself and she went onto take her own life
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Chloe Holland was just 23 when she took her own life after sustained abuse by her ex-boyfriend, who had controlled what she wore and who she saw. The abuser, 26, tracked Chloe’s phone, hit her with a dumbbell and told her to kill herself – at one point handing her a knife. Eventually, she did.
Masterton was sentenced to 41 months after admitting coercive and controlling behaviour in August 2023. He was not accused of bearing criminal responsibility for her death. Chloe’s mother Sharon said: “It’s very unfair, justice hasn’t been served. We need to prevent this from happening with higher sentences.”
Sharon told the Mirror her “happy, lively and energetic” daughter had changed when she was isolated from friends and family by her ex, including her young son from a former relationship. In July 2022, Chloe rang her mum saying Masterton gave her a black eye and she had reported him to police before they got back together.
In January 2023, Chloe made a video statement to Hampshire Police detailing her abuse. The following month, a friend said Chloe had live-streamed her intention to take her own life. Sharon called police, who found her daughter in nearby woods and rushed her to hospital.
“He was on the phone to her before she did it,” she said. Chloe spent five weeks on life support at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandria Hospital before dying on March 6. The grieving parent, of Portsmouth, Hants, called on the Government to introduce Chloe’s Law, a new offence of “manslaughter by coercive control,” but this was rejected by the Ministry of Justice who said existing legislation could be used to the same end.
Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm
Naomi Hunte was stabbed to death
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Fiona Holm’s body is still missing
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Naomi Hunte and Fiona Holm were once both the girlfriends of controlling boyfriend Carl Cooper, with their troubled romances ultimately leading to their deaths, just a year apart. Cooper, 66, was in relationships with Naomi, 41, who was stabbed to death in 2022 and Fiona, 48, who disappeared in June 2023 – with her body never found.
After she was reported to be missing, Cooper had stripped his living room of carpets, wallpaper, and curtains. A jury at Woolwich Crown Court found Cooper guilty of both murders and was jailed for life in July 2024. The trial had heard Ms Hunte was found dead on Valentine’s Day after having made several distressed calls to police over the previous two years. She had told officers she was “really scared” after Cooper became “obsessed” and had been stalking her.
Carl Cooper was found guilty of double murder
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Ms Holm had also reported his behaviour to police, and had confided in a friend that he’d stabbed her with a screwdriver. Sentencing Cooper, Mr Justice Johnson said: “I am sure that you, over many years, have been a great danger to women. You have a history of acting in a controlling and coercive manner to your female partners.”
In September 2024, it was reported that four Met Police officers are under investigation for misconduct over the double murder. Ms Holmes’ body has still not been found. Following Cooper’s sentencing, sister Helena Davis said: “This vile, evil man took her life, and we want to know why. We want to know where he put Fiona so that we can bury her and lay her to rest.”
Jessica Laverack
Jessica’s mum Phyllis has campaigned for change tirelessly since losing her
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Bodybuilder Walsh denied abusing Jessica and said they were planning a future together
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Jessica Laverack took her own life on February 2, 2018, with a coroner concluding at Hull Coroner’s Court in June 2022 the “underlying cause of her illness [was] domestic abuse”. It is thought to be the first time in the UK that a coroner has explicitly made the link between suicide and domestic abuse.
The hairdresser’s mother Phyllis described how her personality had changed “completely” when she began dating bodybuilder Patrick Walsh in 2014, accusing him of a campaign of violence, sexual abuse and controlling behaviour towards her. He denied abusing Jessica, 34, at the inquest, insisting they “very much loved each other” and that they were planning a future together before her death.
But Phyllis told how her daughter had reported to police that Walsh strangled her unconscious, telling them she thought she was going to die. She later fled 50 miles to a new home in Beverley, East Yorks, to escape her partner and was classed as “high risk” at an East Riding Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) but due to error was lost in the system.
“He found her… she believed he was going to kill her,” said Phyllis. “We were begging everybody for help.” Walsh had earlier been charged with assaulting Jessica but she had withdrawn her involvement, which led to them dropping the case. He went onto found her via her new address on a bank statement and she later took her own life.
Grieving Phyllis campaigned for a forensic inquest, known as an Article II inquest, with coroner, Lorraine Harris subsequently writing to the Home Secretary to press for “the need for the recognition of the link between domestic abuse and suicide” at all levels of society. Walsh was not charged, with Jessica’s mother explaining: “Now we can’t go back because although the coroner said that domestic abuse was the cause of her death we can’t get a proper post mortem done. We can’t get the house investigated because the house isn’t there any more.”
Justene Reece
Justene Reece’s ex-partner was found guilty of manslaughter after she took her own life
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Nicholas Allen stalked and violently harassed Justene
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In a legal first in 2017, Nicholas Allen admitted manslaughter of his ex-girlfriend after she killed herself as a “direct result” of his controlling behaviour. Allen, who was sentenced for 10 years, drove Justene Reece to end her life after becoming obsessed with finding out who raped her.
The trial heard that he had sent the 46-year-old abusive voicemails, texts, and Facebook messages and stalked her, with his harassment only ending when she was found hanged, with a heartbreaking note saying, “I’ve run out of the fight.” Allen, who had a string of convictions for assault and harassment against other partners, was also convicted of controlling and coercive behaviour along with six counts of stalking Ms Reece and her family. He was sentenced for these for a further three years, to run concurrently.
The couple met at a scooter enthusiasts’ event in the West Midlands in September 2015 and began a relationship at the end of the year. Justene, who worked as a shop assistant in Laura Ashley, was living with her husband at the time but left him to be with Allen and they moved into a three-bedroom rented house.
But when she confided in him she had been raped by two men at a scooter event, but refused to tell him who they were, their relationship soured. Allen became obsessed with finding out their names and soon she fled to a Woman’s Aid refuge in the north east of England for her own safety in September 2016. He then began bombarding her with texts, calls and threats and even turned up at her estranged husband’s home. In November 2016, he was served with a non-molestation order but breached it by setting up a Facebook page and contacting Ms Reece again.
He was arrested and the following month, she was forced to hire a solicitor because Allen refused to leave their rented home. When she moved back to Stafford at the start of the year, he tracked her down and banged on her windows until she agreed to go to a pub with him. There, he begged her to rekindle their relationship by threatening her. In the following February, she took her own life, and after her death, a diary chronicling her torment at Allen’s hands and her inability to cope with his hate campaign was discovered.
Yasmin Chkaifi
Yasmin Chkaifi was killed in the street at the hands of her ex-partner
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Two years before Yasmin Chkaifi was stabbed to death by her ex-husband, she told a friend that she was scared “he will kill me”. The 43-year-old childminder was murdered on January 24, 2022, in the middle of a west London street by Leon McCaskre, who died moments later after being hit by a car. The fatal attack took place just weeks after a warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in court in relation to an alleged stalking protection order breach.
The mum-of-two feared her life was in danger in the run-up to her tragic end after her abusive partner had put cameras in her flat and had stolen her post and phone. Friend Adele-Sara Richards said Yasmin had texted her in April 2020 saying he’d been recording her for months, adding: “He’s stolen my mail, my phone, has access to all my personal data. I think he will kill me. I’ve tried everything.”
One of her sons told MailOnline McCaskre had made his mum’s life “hell” – with the abuse only getting worse after their divorce. He said: “I was always in touch with the police but they did nothing to help her. There was even a panic alarm installed in our flat – that’s how scared she was of this man. He was a monster.”
Yasmin’s heartbroken husband Joseph Salmon told the BBC that he had been grateful for the time he had had with her, adding: “I just think domestic abuse is a very bad problem and, if there’s no education about it from very young, if things aren’t sorted, if men can’t keep their hands to themselves, I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Lucy-Anne Rushton
Dyson kicked, punched and stamped on his wife’s body, leaving her with 37 fractured ribs
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An inquest into the death of Lucy-Anne Rushton heard that both Dorset Police and Hampshire Constabulary missed opportunities to save the mum-of-five before she was murdered by Shaun Dyson on June 23, 2019. Before ordering her to swallow her wedding ring, Dyson murdered Lucy-Anne by kicking, punching and stamping on her, leaving her with 37 rib fractures, a broken breastbone and collapsed lungs.
Lucy-Anne’s brother had gone to the police in the month prior to the murder – to report Dyson for taking photos of himself sexually abusing his wife on her 30th birthday, the inquest heard. A year earlier, officers were called following an altercation between the pair at a Bournemouth hotel, where Dyson was overheard calling the mum a “drunken slut”. During their stay, Lucy-Anne was seen by a guest in the corridor with her face and hands covered in blood and notified security. Dyson denied assault but CCTV evidence showing a confrontation was not secured by police.
The mum-of-five was forced to swallow her own wedding ring before she was murdered
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The jury chair read: “The relationship between both parties was abusive and violent, the relationship made a material impact on her death.” Talking of the 2018 hotel incident, they added: “A public protection notice issued by the police was submitted three weeks after.
“This was received by the home local authority [Hampshire County Council], this was not actioned…The children attended a local primary school, one child reported violence at home, the school did not refer this to child services. A referral was made on June , 2019, following sizeable concerns, the referral was declined by child services.
“On 30 May, concerning photos were shared with the police, several lines of inquiry were not followed and a risk assessment was not completed. Lucy-Anne Rushton died on 23 June 2019 as a result of a prolonged, brutal attack, Lucy-Anne Rushton was unlawfully killed.” Dyson murdered Lucy-Anne at her home in Andover, Hampshire, while children were present. The jealous husband was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 17 years.
Claire Inglis
Christopher McGowan, who had 39 previous convictions, was released on bail to Claire’s home which she shared with her young son.
Claire was strangled and battered to death
Christopher McGowan, who had 39 previous convictions, strangled and battered Claire Inglis to death – six weeks after being freed to live at the Stirling flat she shared with her son. McGowan, aged 28 at the time of his sentencing, was jailed for the “beyond sadistic” attack on November 28, 2021, for a minimum of 23 years.
Claire’s parents Ian, 60, and Fiona, 63, called on authorities last December to go further to protect women, demanding domestic abusers to be made subject to the same strict sanctions as those on the sex offenders register. Fiona, from Stirling, said: “We are sickened that sex offenders must register their details, movements and tell the authorities if they begin a new relationship but it’s not the same for domestic abusers. Christopher McGowan had a history of criminality, his offending was escalating. He was a ticking time bomb. More should have been done to protect our daughter and we believe the system failed her. As a result we lost our beautiful Claire.
“We want domestic abusers to be held to account. They should no longer be allowed to go under the radar. We want to protect women like Claire and make sure this never happens again.” Women can apply to the police for a disclosure check to see if their partner has a history of violence but the onus falls on the victim.
Fawziyah Javed
Fawziyah Javed’s dying words helped put her abusive husband behind bars. The 31-year-old lawyer, who was 17 weeks pregnant, tragically died at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh on September 2, 2021, after Kashif Anwar, 29, forced her off the cliff face. He claimed his wife slipped and fell in an accident on the hillside, but prosecutors and the jury were able to expose her husband’s lies at a trial in April 2023.
Fawziyah died two days before her 32nd birthday.
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Anwar was convicted of killing Fawziyah and has been jailed for 20 years. Lead prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said a “great deal of evidence” collected by Fawziyah was crucial in securing a conviction. Of the lawyer’s final words, Mr Prentice said: “The evidence of what Fawziyah said was crucial. It was effectively Fawziyah speaking to the jury. I have prosecuted many murder cases over the course of my career but for a variety of reasons this case is extraordinary.” He said it would have been “very difficult” to find Anwar guilty without the evidence.
Kashif Anwar pushed his partner to her death
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After Fawziyah landed on the side of Arthur’s Seat, witnesses rushed to her aid and she was able to tell them what had happened to her. While she lay critically injured, the lawyer told passerby Daniyah Rafique, 24: “Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me.” She died a short time later. Brave Fawziyah had spent months building evidence against him. She had secretly recorded phone calls of Anwar threatening her and went to West Yorkshire Police twice to record his abusive behaviour.
Hollie Gazzard
Maslin was jailed in July 2014 after killing his ex with a £3 carving knife
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Hollie was knifed to death at work soon after she tried to end her relationship
A spurned ex stabbed a beauty salon worker to death in front of customers and colleagues minutes after sending a chilling ‘warned you all’ text. Hairdresser Hollie Gazzard, 20, was knifed 14 times by evil Asher Maslin days after she dumped him on Valentine’s Day. Neither she nor her family had realised that her decision to finish with possessive Maslin would send him into an unthinkable rage. The horrifying killing happened in broad daylight on February 18 in 2014 at La Bella Beauty Salon in Gloucester, where Hollie worked.
She was putting the finishing touches on a client’s hair when Maslin came in and repeatedly stabbed her with a £3 kitchen knife he had bought hours earlier. Hollie’s shocked colleagues could only watch in horror. The young woman had dumped abusive Maslin when he stole her debit card and emptied her account of £300. Hollie reported him to police on February 16. They attempted to arrest Maslin that evening, but were unable to locate him as he was on a drink, cocaine and crack cocaine binge in London. In July 2014, he was given a life sentence for murder and ordered to serve a minimum of 24 years.
Joanna Simpson
Joanna was killed within earshot of her two young children
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Former British Airways captain Brown denied murdering his estranged wife
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Brown was returning his two primary school age children to their 46-year-old mum, Joanna Simpson, after a half term visit in October 2010 when he bludgeoned her to death with a hammer. The callous pilot lifted his estranged wife’s body into the back of his car outside Joanna’s home in Ascot, Berks and told their children he was “taking Mummy to hospital”. Instead, Brown dropped his children off with his current partner and drove to Windsor Great Park, where he had already dug a deep grave. He wrapped up Joanna’s body and placed it into a box lined with plastic sheeting, which he closed and covered with soil.
One friend told how Brown had constantly criticised Joanna and monitored her movements, checking what time she got home or went to bed while away on flights. On one chilling occasion, he is said to have taken a “very large carving knife” from a drawer and held it to her chest, gripping the back of her neck with his other hand.
A month after their marriage ended in July 2007, terrified Joanna applied for a non-molestation injunction against her ex. The killer was said to have grown increasingly angry about a marriage pre-nup he felt stitched him up, preventing him from accessing his estranged wife’s trust fund.
In May 2011 Brown stood trial at Reading Crown Court, where he was found not guilty of murder, pleading guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility. He received a 26-year-old sentence, including two years for obstructing a coroner, and was set to be released last February before his release was blocked by the Government. Joanna’s mum Diana Parkes had campaigned against his release, telling Good Morning Britain: “He should stay in prison for as long as possible… He will seek revenge. He will blame everybody else but himself for what he did.”
Poppy Devey Waterhouse
Atkinson’s sentence “horrified” Poppy’s mother Julie
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Poppy suffered more than 100 injuries in a horrendous attack
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Poppy Devey Waterhouse was 24 when she was stabbed dozens of times with a kitchen knife by her ex at their Leeds flat. Joe Atkinson was sentenced to 16 years and two months in jail, with the talented mathematician’s mother, Julie Devey, “horrified” the sentence was shorter than it would be if her daughter was killed in the street.
Poppy suffered more than 100 injuries in the December 2018 attack with Atkinson, who was 25 when he killed her in a jealous rage, admitting murder and being jailed for life. “As soon as we were told that the sentence that would be handed out to our daughter’s killer would be starting at a point 10 years less than if she was killed out on the street, we were horrified,” said Julie.
“Domestic homicides often use ‘overkill’, which is more force than is necessary. In Poppy’s case, she endured 49 knife wounds and over 100 injuries altogether. These facts appear to be ignored by the justice system. By having a minimum starting tariff of 15 years, these victim’s lives are diminished. It sends a very clear message to families and the public that those lives were worth less than those taken outside.”
Valerie Forde
Valerie Forde was brutally killed alongside her baby girl
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Valerie Forde and her one-year-old daughter were brutally murdered by her ex-partner Roland McKoy in March 2014. He had attacked the mum with a machete and hammer at her Hackney home, while he slit her 22-month-old daughter Jahzra’s throat.
Just six weeks earlier, the killer had threatened to burn the house down with everyone inside. However, police reported this as a threat to property rather than a threat to life. An investigation later found they were let down by police, with two detective sergeants guilty of misconduct for failing to adequately progress the investigation and for poor record keeping. They were given written warnings.
McKoy, who was found lying with their bodies, denied their murders, but following a trial at the Old Bailey, was jailed for a minimum of 35 years for murder. The trial heard that he had attacked Ms Forde, inflicting at least 30 separate injuries, as she got ready for work on March 31 – the date she had set for him to move out of the three-bedroom terrace.
He later drank bleach and left a note, stained with Jahzara’s blood, on the mum’s face, blaming her for what happened. Following a series of threats, two months earlier in the January, Mrs Forde, a community project manager, had messaged her sister saying she had be careful around him and had been praying for her safety each night.
Following the tragedy, a petition named Valerie’s Law was set up, which saw campaigners call for the law to be changed to compel police to undergo training that addresses the fact domestic violence disproportionately affects Black women. It received more than 100,000 signatures, triggering a Commons Debate.
In its initial response to the petition, provided on July 2021, the government said: “Current training on domestic abuse should include recognising the specific needs of victims due to their ethnicity or cultural background. Government does not feel it is necessary to mandate it.”
Ellie Gould
Ellie was studying for her A levels when she was stabbed to death at home
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Ellie’s mother felt “completely let down” by her daughter’s killer’s sentence
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Ellie Gould was just 17 when she was stabbed to death at home in Wiltshire by her ex-boyfriend, who had first put his hands around her neck. Griffiths, then 18, then placed the knife in Ellie’s left hand to give the impression she had killed herself. Dumping a bag of bloodstained clothes in the woods, he then returned to the school they both attended. Ellie’s father returned home from work to discover his daughter’s body in the kitchen.
In November 2019 Griffiths was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 12 years and six months, after he admitted the killing. “If somebody stabbed somebody once in a park that’s worth 35 years,” said Ellie’s mother Carole. “Surely multiple stabbing in the home should be worth at least the same starting point.”
“We were devastated when the sentence was passed down and feel completely let down by the British justice system,” added the grieving mum. “It just doesn’t seem right that a young girl can be sitting at home revising for her A-levels and somebody can come in and brutally murder her – and the perpetrator’s punishment is 12 and a half years. How is that ever, ever justice?”
Megan Newborough
Pictured with her dog Frank, Megan was just 23 when she died
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She was killed in a ferocious attack by her boyfriend
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Evil McCullam strangled his girlfriend Megan Newborough at his home in August 2021. They had met at work and been together a short time when he struck, cutting her throat 14 times in what the prosecution believed was an attempt to decapitate her before dumping her body in undergrowth.
The prosecution barrister at Leicester Crown Court told how investigations of messages sent between the pair revealed a dark, alarming side to the laboratory worker. “Gradually the conversations become a lot more sexual,” said John Cammegh KC. “What these messages showed us was a man who had a dark and deep obsession with sexual distortion, dominance, coercion, fear, threat. His sexual fantasies, ideations were not just unhealthy, they were, for the likes of you and I, very dangerous.”
McCullam was jailed for life and sentenced to a minimum of 23 years following the six-week trial. Megan’s heartbroken father Anthony told the court: “Megan had no idea of the evil terror she was about to face at the hands of the man she had met at work and trusted, none of us did. We still ask ourselves if we should have known, if we missed something, and we are overcome with guilt for not protecting Megan.”
Elinor O’Brien
Elinor O’Brien was stabbed to death by her partner
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Police said that Elinor O’Brien, 22, was subjected to controlling and coercive behaviour throughout her relatively short relationship with Kevin Mannion. Their romance ended with her death.
Elinor was stabbed at a property in Manchester city centre on August 16, 2022, in a ‘rageful and violent attack’ following a row. They argued after Elinor questioned Mannion, who had told her that a woman he’d also been seeing had revealed she was pregnant. Elinor died three days later following a ‘catastrophic’ brain injury.
Mannion, then 45, was jailed for 35 years for murder, wounding with intent and controlling and coercive behaviour. Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe said: “He assaulted her a number of times and, in the early hours of Sunday, 14 August 2022, stabbed her in her left breast. Two days later, following an argument, Mannion threw Elinor out of his apartment and stabbed her in the groin.” He added Mannion was an “extremely dangerous individual” whose “lack of remorse” was “shameful”.
The trial heard that Elinor had spoken to police about suffering from domestic abuse, but was too frightened to name Mannion as the perpetrator. Elinor’s cousin, Mollie Lune, described Mannion as a ‘monster’ and urged victims of domestic abuse to come forward to police. “Elinor was a really fun person, she was very open and kind,” Mollie told the Manchester Evening News. “It is horrendous to think that this thug controlled her and bullied her to the point where she felt she could not walk away from him safely.
“She kept the whole ordeal a secret, which was not like her. We don’t want her murder to become another statistic. In her name, I want to plead with women to walk away from abuse. Please make that first step, before it is too late.”
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk. If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit ** www.aafda.org.uk**.
If you need to talk and don’t know where to turn to, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit the website to find your local branch.