MANCHESTER – CCTV footage has revealed how a police officer attempted to evade capture after trying to kill his ex-partner by throttling her and putting a plastic bag over her head.
How he took the break-up
James Riley, 28, was jailed for 16 years for attempted murder, after what a judge told him was a ‘brutal and determined’ two-minute attempt on academic Ellie Moxham’s life.
The former Lancashire Police officer flew into a ‘jealous’ rage on November 10, 2022, leaving Ms Moxham with a long-lasting brain injury from oxygen deprivation, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Ms Moxham, then aged 24, was ‘persuaded’ to go to a Sigrid concert in Manchester which the former couple had booked some months earlier, and stay the night in a Premier Inn hotel.
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Riley was hoping to ‘rekindle’ their relationship, which began when they were both undergraduate students at Lancaster University years earlier, but attacked Ms Moxham with ‘murderous intent’, after she texted her new partner Alex Gough.
CCTV footage revealed Riley’s movements after the incident, highlighting his intention to evade capture by making two £250 cash transactions from different ATMs and getting rid of his mobile phone to ensure he could not be tracked.
Spent minutes with his parent
After fleeing the Premier Inn, Riley spent 11 minutes on the phone to his parents – telling them ‘I’ve killed Ellie’ – before eventually calling an ambulance then fleeing the scene to ‘save his own skin’.
Ms Moxham, who was a PhD student at Lancaster University, was initially put into an induced coma and spent a day in intensive care.
Alex Leach KC, prosecuting, said Riley flew into a rage after Ms Moxham exchanged text messages with her new partner.
It followed ‘a history of jealousy, abuse or coercive behaviour’, Mr Leach said.
Sentencing, Judge Patrick Field, KC, said: ‘As a result of becoming consumed by an uncontrollable anger and a jealous rage, you attacked her with murderous intent.’
