Hexham: Holly Newton killer receives a minimum of 17 years' detention

As a 17-year-old, who was 16 at the time of the attack, Logan MacPhail was today (Friday, November 1) sentenced "to detention at His Majesty's pleasure" for not less than 17 years, but with 641 days deducted for the time spent in secure youth detention since the offence.

The judge at Newcastle Crown Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard, said he could not be sure that MacPhail took the knife with him to Hexham that day, January 27 last year, with the intention of harming Holly, who had ended their relationship of about 18 months in the previous few weeks.

But after following her and two companions around Hexham with his face partially covered, he approached her at a bus stop when a male friend she was with went into a nearby pizza shop.

(Image: Northumbria Police/North News) The judge said it was during the 15 minutes at the bus stand when it became clear that Holly did not want to resume the relationship that, filled with "resentment" at this, and "jealousy" that she was with another male friend, that MacPhail decided to harm her.

He tried three times to lure her into a nearby alleyway, out of sight of passers-by, intending to attack her.

The third time she went sufficiently far into the alleyway for MacPhail to be able to carry out the attack.

"You then took out the knife and launched an attack upon her which was vicious and brutal."

She suffered at least 12 stab wounds, five defence-type injuries trying to fend off the blows, and 19 other "sharp force injuries".

Five of those stab wounds went into the bone, one to the jaw, two to the skull, one to the backbone, and one through the shoulder.

Mr Justice Hilliard told MacPhail: "Stabbing her head was a terrible thing to do."

(Image: Northumbria Police) At one stage the 16-year-old youth who had been with Holly "bravely" intervened to try to stop the attack as MacPhail sat astride her inflicting knife wounds.

But he suffered four stab wounds, himself, one of them causing a serious wound to his shoulder for which he still suffers repercussions.

He then went to get help and MacPhail resumed the attack until passers-by went to Holly's aid and disarmed MacPhail.

The judge told MacPhail: "The force you used was such that the knife broke and the blade was bent.

"You attacked her back, head and face. I'm sure you intended to kill her."

He said despite being on the autism spectrum and having mild learning difficulties, he was sure MacPhail, "had sufficient understanding" of what he had done.

"The blood loss was unsurvivable, notwithstanding the best efforts of courageous members of the public."

In passing sentence, the judge told MacPhail: "The stark facts are that you made the decision to stab a 15-year-old girl to death with a knife, having followed her secretly around town for about an hour, all because you resented the fact she ended your relationship and you were jealous of someone else."

Mr Justice Hilliard said the members of the public who intervened and went to Holly's aid, Kenneth Kelly, James Westlake, Danielle Richardson, Vinni Nicholson and Debbie Thick, "behaved in an exemplary way" and were deserving of public commendation.

The judge passed a concurrent five-year sentence on MacPhail for wounding the other teenage victim with intent and passed no separate penalty for the charge of possessing a knife in public, which MacPhail admitted.

He was found guilty of Holly's murder and wounding with intent following a trial lasting several weeks, in late August.

As MacPhail, of Birtley, near Gateshead, will become 18, and an adult in the eyes of the law, in December, Mr Justice Hilliard ruled in September that it was in the public interest that he could be publicly identified.

The court heard that MacPhail, who had become "obsessed" about Holly, met her when both attended Army cadets in Consett.

But he could not accept that their 18-month relationship was over.

(Image: Northumbria Police) The night before he murdered her, he travelled 40 miles from his home in Gateshead to her house in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, where he hung around for hours wanting to see her.

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He was refused entry and was eventually taken home by police who had been alerted by his mother that he was missing.

Holly’s mother, Micala Trussler, was concerned enough to contact the police and arranged to speak to an officer about MacPhail’s behaviour the next afternoon.

But it was put off until the evening as Holly had expressed a wish to see her friends after school, which is when the ultimately fatal attack took place.