Jealous teenager who stalked and stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death detained for life

An obsessed and jealous teenager who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in an alleyway was detained for life yesterday and told he would serve a minimum of 17 years.

- Mark Brown

Logan MacPhail murdered the 15-year-old Holly Newton in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023, stabbing her 36 times after he stalked her for an hour as she walked with friends after school.

Mr Justice Hilliard described the attack as "vicious and brutal". Newcastle crown court heard MacPhail, 17, who was 16 at the time of the murder, had been Holly's first and only boyfriend and at the start it was "a typical teenage relationship".

But he became obsessed with Holly, wanting to know where she was and who she was going out with and he killed her after she tried to break up with him.

MacPhail lured Holly into an alleyway with the specific aim of attacking her where people could not intervene, Hilliard said, adding: "You were filled with resentment and jealousy but still able to calculate where you could best attack her and able to wait until you got that opportunity."