Depraved hot tub killer is jailed for life

Judge slams monster who stabbed girlfriend to death

- BY JAMES MULHOLLAND

A BRUTE who murdered his girlfriend by stabbing her at least 26 times at his mum's island home has been jailed for life.

Evil Aren Pearson, 41, knifed Claire Leveque, 24, in a hot tub in Sandness, Shetland.

Jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh heard how 19 of the stab wounds were inflicted on Claire's face and neck on February 11, 2024.

The deadly attack ended a campaign of domestic abuse which he waged on Claire.

Pearson later confessed to inflicting deadly wounds on Canadian-born Claire to a 999 operator and police officers who attended the bloody crime scene.

He also made the confession to medics who treated him for superficial injuries which he inflicted upon himself at a hospital in Lerwick.

But despite his admissions, Pearson went to trial claiming that he watched Claire repeatedly stab herself and that he wasn't responsible for murdering her.

Claire's father Clint and his partner Jenny travelled from their North American home to hear harrowing evidence describing the full extent of her injuries. Jurors found Pearson guilty yesterday of murdering Claire and assaulting her in the months before her death.

Judge Lord Arthurson said it was a crime of "exceptional depravity" and described Pearson's evidence in court as "malicious and fabricated". He will have to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.