Family of Hexham schoolgirl Holly Newton say murder 'should be classified as domestic violence'
The family of a 15-year-old who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend said her killer was controlling and want the crime to be classified as domestic violence.
Aged 16, he had stalked Holly around the town centre of Hexham, Northumberland, before stabbing her and causing 36 injuries in an alleyway.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that he was jealous and could not accept that their 18-month relationship was over.
Her mother Micala Trussler told the BBC that when she received a phone call saying her daughter had been attacked, she immediately knew who had done it.
She said: “He didn’t like her having other friends "He didn’t like her going out without him.
"He needed to know where she was all the time. He was ringing her so many times throughout the day.
"She wanted to have her friends over and he didn’t agree with that.
"It was all just control, everything was control and when he couldn’t control, then there was an issue."
The night before the fatal attack in January 2023, MacPhail had travelled 40 miles from his home in Gateshead to Holly’s house in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, trying to get in by claiming he wanted a game console back, and hung around for hours.
Mrs Trussler was concerned enough to contact the police and arranged to speak to an officer about MacPhail’s behaviour the next afternoon, but Holly persuaded her mother to put it off so she could meet friends.
That same afternoon, MacPhail stabbed her to death.
Her stepfather Lee Trussler said: “One thing that I would like to see is the domestic violence age reduced where it can be classed as a crime, especially with children getting into relationships younger.”
Her mother added: "Because he’s 16, he’s at the age where he can be in an abusive relationship but because she was only 15, it goes down as knife crime, so it goes in that category which I don’t personally think it should sit.
"The only connection it’s got is that fact he’s killed her with a knife but, in all honesty, I think he would have killed her with anything just so she couldn’t be with anyone else, because it was all about control, obsession and passion."
MacPhail was convicted of murder, as well as wounding with intent on a boy who stepped in to try to stop him, following a trial in August and he will be sentenced at the end of this month.
Lifting the reporting restriction, Mr Justice Hilliard said: “There is great public concern about murders by young people who have carried knives in public places and about violence to women and girls.
"Legitimate debate is assisted by knowing who has committed such offences and their circumstances and the full detail of the offences in question.
"In my judgment, on the specific facts of this case, there are very strong reasons why in the interests of open justice, the public should now have a full and proper understanding of such a serious crime and all of the circumstances in which it was committed."
MacPhail, who met Holly when they both attended Army cadets, claimed he never planned to attack her, but wanted to use the knife to kill himself.
He has autism and a low IQ and his defence team made applications for him not to stand trial on the basis that he could not understand the legal process but, after several hearings, he was deemed well enough.
MacPhail denied murder but admitted manslaughter, claiming he blacked out.
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