A jealous ex-boyfriend stalked 15-year-old Holly Newton for 45 minutes undetected before luring her into an alleyway where he stabbed her to death.
Logan MacPhail, 17, was sentenced to life detention with a minimum term of 17 years at Newcastle Crown Court for murdering the schoolgirl in January 2023.
HOW IT HAPPENED
MacPhail, who was unhappy about their break-up, followed her through a Northumberland market town when she finished classes for the day before knifing her 36 times and stabbing a teenage boy who tried to stop the attack.
CCTV showed him wearing a snood and a baseball cap and ducking out of sight as he followed Holly and her friends around the town centre.
One heartbreaking video shows the teen in conversation with the killer at a bus stop, shortly before he lured her to the alleyway, where he repeatedly stabbed her with the knife he had been carrying around.
The prosecution said MacPhail, who has autism and learning difficulties, did not accept that their 18-month relationship was over.
THE NIGHT BEFORE
The night before he murdered Holly, he travelled 40 miles from his home in Gateshead to hers in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, where he hung around for hours.
MacPhail was eventually taken home by police who had been alerted by his mother that he was missing.
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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.
That same afternoon, MacPhail stabbed Holly to death. He told police ‘she was being too horrible’ as he tried to make excuses for killing the schoolgirl.Â
COURT HEARD
During the trial, prosecutor David Brooke KC told the court Holly and MacPhail had been a couple but had recently split and added: ‘It is clear from the evidence that he was very unhappy about the break-up.’
Mr Brooke said the knife being used by the defendant broke in the attack.
Holly was taken by ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle but despite all efforts to safe her, she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
He said 12 of Holly’s injuries were stab wounds, 19 others were caused by a ‘slashing motion’ and five were to her hands, where she had tried to stop the attack.
