Marcus Osborne: Judges reject 'sadistic' double killer's appeal against whole-life sentence

Appeal court judges have rejected a double murderer's appeal against his whole-life prison sentence.

Marcus Osborne was jailed in March following the fatal knife attack on his ex-partner Katie Higton, 27, and her new boyfriend, 25-year-old Steven Harnett, at their home in Huddersfield.

Ms Higton, who had been the victim of domestic abuse by Osborne, suffered 99 injuries. Mr Harnett's body was mutilated.

Leeds Crown Court heard the "sadistic" attack was motivated by "sexual jealousy".

Osborne was given a rare whole-life term, reserved for the most extreme crimes.

On Wednesday, 13 November, his lawyers told the Court of Appeal the sentence should be reduced as the sentencing judge had failed to take into account his guilty pleas, and that the whole life order was “not necessary”.

But three senior judges dismissed the argument.

The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said the sentencing judge was right to consider the crime as "not a borderline case, and to be in no doubt as to its gravity".

She added: “The facts of these two murders, together with their associated offences and taking into account relevant aggravating factors, are so horrific, that whole life terms were appropriate, despite the applicant’s guilty pleas.

“At the end of the day, these were two planned and brutal murders motivated by sexual jealousy and involving sexual conduct, committed in circumstances designed to maximise the depravity of the murders by an individual with a history of significant violence against one of the victims, and previous domestic partners.”

Leeds Crown Court heard Osborne, who was 35 when he was sentenced, lay in wait for Ms Higton and attacked her as she entered the house they once shared in the early hours of 15 May last year.

He then used her phone to pose as her to lure Mr Harnett to the house before killing him while four children were inside the property. He went on to rape another woman at knifepoint.

Osborne compared them to Romeo and Juliet and said they could “die together now” following the attack.

He later invited a neighbour into the living room to see the bodies.

The court was told Ms Higton had been in a relationship with him for five years, but left him in early May last year after an assault which was “the last straw”.

She had complained to police that the relationship was “coercive, controlling and physically abusive” in the last two years and that she had been regularly assaulted, including one incident when he threw a cat at her.

In the days before the murders, she also told West Yorkshire Police that Osborne had told her “he would slit her throat if she said what he had done”, and that “if she ever got a boyfriend he would kill them both”.

Osborne was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence offences on 12 May last year and bailed with conditions not to go back to their home, but spied on Ms Higton over the following days and found out about the developing relationship between her and Mr Harnett by hacking into her Snapchat account.

He later admitted two counts of murder and single counts of rape and false imprisonment.

John Elvidge KC, for Osborne, told the court in London that his guilty pleas should have been given “heavy weight” as they spared the rape victim from having to give evidence.

But Baroness Carr, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mr Justice Bennathan, dismissed the challenge, stating that some of Ms Higton’s injuries “were inflicted with the intention of disfiguring as well as killing” and that the original sentencing decision “cannot be impugned”.

She said: “We do not accept the submission that the judge inappropriately reduced the weight to be attached to the applicant’s guilty pleas.”

Osborne attended the hearing via a video link from HMP Wakefield, wearing a grey Adidas jumper, and did not react as his appeal bid was dismissed.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.