Holly Newton’s ‘typical teenage relationship’ ends in Hexham murder

Prosecutor David Brooke said a life sentence with supervised release was mandatory for murder, but the debate was over the minimum term McPhail must serve before he would be eligible for release.

The court heard the issues revolved around the degree of planning and premeditation, the amount of mental and physical suffering caused to Holly and McPhail’s motivation for possessing the knife.

“It was a brutal attack,” Mr Brooke said, adding that it lasted more than a minute and involved more than 20 blows, causing 36 stab wounds, which “speaks volumes about the intensity of the intent”.

He said it would be a 10-year starting point if McPhail’s claim that he took the knife only to harm himself was accepted, but 17 years – 25 for an adult – if it was established that he took the weapon from with the intention of using it to cause “at least really serious harm.”

The prosecutor said McPhail intended to meet Holly and the messages he sent showed his “jealousy” and “displeasure with how he felt he was being treated.”

Mr Brooke said McPhail followed her in disguise for an hour and waited until she was alone before he approached and then “lured” her into an alley where the prosecutor said he intended to attack her.