Not long enough: Dad slams daughter's killer's jail term
The father of a ‘doting mum’ who was strangled to death by her jealous ex-partner after he hid overnight in the loft of her home has criticised his minimum 16-year prison sentence as not long enough.
William Mack, 39, briefly paused his murderous attack on Leanne Wall to tend to their 16-month-old daughter, who was downstairs in a travel cot.
The unemployed, violent drug user then ran back upstairs and used a belt and his hands to throttle Ms Wall. Her body was found later, lying on her bed at her home on Conway Avenue in Whitefield, near Bury, in February.
Mack, who has a lengthy list of previous convictions and took a sleeping bag, food and drink up into the loft with him as he lay in wait to attack, pleaded guilty to a single count of murder.
He was jailed for life, with a minimum tariff of 16 years, by a judge who called the murder a ‘callous, calculated, pre-meditated and planned killing’ before sending him down.
Ms Wall’s parents, Brian and Karen, from Prestwich , are looking after her daughter, Elise.
Mr Wall said he hopes Mack ‘rots in hell’ and revealed the family are looking at legal options to call for an increase to the sentence.He said:
He said the family ‘have no more questions’ after hearing full details of the tragedy at the sentencing hearing, but Mr Wall said he believes Mack should have been sectioned.
In January, Ms Wall asked for Mack to be detained under the Mental Health Act after he threatened to blow up her home with a gas explosion. No blast, or detention, took place.
Police had been called twice before to her home to reports of domestic violence but no charges against Mack were brought.
The court heard he hatched the plan to kill Ms Wall after he became ‘obsessed’ that she had cheated on him. He threatened to kill her the day before and outlined his plans to friends in chilling text messages.
Fuelled by paranoia that she had been unfaithful to him at a party, he laid in wait in the loft for more than 16 hours - even sending her a text message from his hiding place saying he ‘couldn’t talk’.
He jumped down in the morning, head-butted her then went on to strangle her.Mr Wall said:
Mack was a heavy cannabis smoker who met Ms Wall in 2009 shortly after he had been released from prison after being jailed for wounding. He ranted at the judge and Ms Wall’s family from the dock before he started his sentence.
Mr Wall said:
Ms Wall, a former Prestwich High School pupil, worked as a business risk manager at wealth management firm St James’s Place in Spinningfields, Manchester.
She was described by her parents, Brian and Karen, as a hard-working mum with a ‘big heart’ and many friends. The Independent Police Complaints Commission are investigating.