Stepfather jailed for double murder

Carter had been watching Joanne Lojko bathe

A man has been jailed for life after admitting the murder of his teenage stepdaughter and her boyfriend.

David Carter, 54, pleaded guilty to shooting Joanne Lojko, 15, and her boyfriend Garry Crease, 21, in October 2002.

Bristol Crown Court heard Carter had drilled holes through the bathroom ceiling so he could watch Miss Lojko bathing from the attic of their home in Austin Road, Glastonbury.

Two days after Miss Lojko saw him watching her, Carter used a long barrelled .22 calibre pistol to shoot and kill her and her boyfriend.

Martin Meeke QC, prosecuting, said Carter had ammunition at his home including a deactivated hand grenade, knives, a hand gun, a derringer and 20 rounds of .22 ammunition.

On the day of the murders Carter had returned early from his job at a quarrying company. He called his stepdaughter asking her to come home to talk about the problems.

The girl returned with her boyfriend and Carter later alleged to police that Mr Crease had punched him and sworn at him.

Carter kept a cache of weapons at his home

Carter said he picked up the loaded gun and pointed it at Mr Crease, who ran upstairs.

In a police interview he said: "I shot him at point blank range in the back of the head and he fell into the bathroom."

Terrified Joanne Lojko came out of her room screaming, went into the bathroom and rang the police. Her 999 call was described as "most harrowing".

Carter reloaded the gun, kicked open the bathroom door and shot her in the throat. He claimed he did not mean to kill her and that Miss Lojko had grabbed the barrel of the gun.

As both casualties lay in the bathroom, Carter shot them both again "to put them out of their misery".

Police found Miss Lojko dead at the scene and Mr Crease died later that day in hospital.

Sentencing Carter to life in prison, Judge Tom Crowther said: "This case demonstrates the folly and danger of there being any form of weapon in homes, even if they are held by those with a genuine interest and understanding of them.

"It was a massive isolated total aberration but it cannot be overlooked that you administered wounds to both Joanne Lojko and Garry Crease which were plainly intending to be fatal."

The judge ordered that all weapons and ammunition found at the home be destroyed.