Sherlock killer jailed for life

Elizabeth Sherlock was described as "courageous"

The heroin addict who killed costume designer Elizabeth Sherlock by driving over her body, has been jailed for life.

Mark Woolley was convicted of murder after a 14-day trial in which the court was told he acted as a getaway driver for his girlfriend Jackie Moorhouse.

In court she was jailed for three years for theft after being cleared of murder and attempted murder.

Judge Michael Hyam described Mrs Sherlock's murder as "a wicked act without pity and without remorse".

The judge said Woolley was seen to smile

After the court case Mrs Sherlock's husband, Peter, said the trial showed human life was "sacred and not something to be tossed aside like a discarded sweet wrapper."

And he said of Woolley's actions: "What he did to Liz was to him a mere blip in his existence."

Moorehouse, a drug addict, was inside the Ford Fiesta when Woolley drove over Mrs Sherlock, after she was thrown off the bonnet of the car.

The jury cleared Moorehouse of murdering Mrs Sherlock and the alternative charge of her manslaughter.

Mrs Sherlock chased Moorehouse out of the station in April this year, after her handbag was taken, but she sustained fatal injuries during the incident.

The court was told that Woolley, also a drug addict, smiled as they drove away from the scene, after the car had run over Mrs Sherlock.

Moorhouse was a "shameless thief"

Witness Edmond Mills told the court: "We thought it was a hit-and-run and called the authorities. What surprised me was the laugh on his face."

Moorehouse said they left the scene by cab, after the Fiesta was abandoned, and used Mrs Sherlock's cash card to withdraw £100 for heroin.

Woolley, 36, from Pentonville, London, previously denied murdering Mrs Sherlock.

Moorehouse, 24, from West Hampstead, London, also denied her murder and manslaughter, but earlier admitted stealing Mrs Sherlock's handbag.

Moorehouse said she could not begin to say how sorry she was to Mrs Sherlock's family.

In her defence evidence, she described seeing Mrs Sherlock's face "staring at me through the car windscreen".

"She was saying things, but I could not hear her. She looked angry," added Moorehouse.

Moorehouse told the jury that when the car had stopped, "I said to her 'You are going to hurt yourself, get off the car'."