Life term for 'obsession' murder

Christopher Devine admitted he had stabbed Sandra Vincent

A man who stabbed to death an older woman whose love he found "distasteful" has been jailed for life.

Christopher Devine, 22, from Rhyl, had denied murdering 56-year-old Sandra Vincent last October but then made a dramatic witness box confession.

Judge John Rogers, at Caernarfon Crown Court, said Devine should serve at least 17 years for the attack on the woman who had been "obsessed" with him.

He said: "You constitute a very serious threat to members of the public."

Throughout the trial, Devine had denied killing Ms Vincent but in a development on Friday, he admitted he had stabbed her.

Judge John Rogers directed the jury to return a verdict of guilty.

The trial heard Ms Vincent, who met Devine when they were both patients at a psychiatric unit in north Wales in October 2005, was stabbed at least five times with a serrated blade.

One stab wound had penetrated seven-and-three-quarter inches (19.5 cm), the court heard.

Ms Vincent died in October 2006, two days after she was attacked in Devine's sister flat.

The court heard she had become "strangely, deeply attracted" to Devine, and one of her relatives said she had been "obsessed" with him.

Jurors also heard that that before she died, Ms Vincent, also known by her married name, Bowring, was able to tell her ex-husband that it was Devine who had attacked her.

Evidence

She said: "I told you he would get me. He did it."

The trial was told that Devine had previous convictions for violence involving the use of knives.

Devine had denied Ms Vincent was his girlfriend and told the court they had been "purely friends."

He added: "She was friendly, bubbly, outgoing, easy to get on with. We had a great laugh."

Before changing his evidence, he told the trial he had no idea what might have happened the night Ms Vincent was found stabbed.

"I thought it was a self-inflicted injury at the time," he said.

He had rejected a suggestion by Simon Medland, prosecuting, that he had placed Ms Vincent in the bath at first to try and make out she had killed herself, but had then been interrupted by people returning to the flat.

'No remorse'

When Mr Medland asked if he was suggesting a random person must have come off the street, up three flights of stairs and through a closed but unlocked door of the flat, Devine answered: "Yes."

Delivering sentence, Judge Rogers said the likelihood was Devine would spend "many many years" behind bars after completing his 17-year tariff.

The judge told Devine he had admitted killing a middle-aged woman whose love he found distasteful.

He said took a knife and stabbed her six separate times, one so deep it penetrated her liver and a kidney.

He said: "You then left her bleeding on the bathroom floor, calmly washed the knife and sat down to watch TV.

"You have shown no remorse. In the past although you are only 22, you have on six separate occasions been convicted for offences involving the use or possession of a knife.

'Sympathies'

"At present you constitute a very serious threat to members of the public."

Following sentencing, North Wales Police Detective Inspector Steve Williams said: "Our sympathies go to the family of Sandra Bowring.

"Christopher Devine was rightly convicted of the horrific attack, which resulted in the murder of Sandra.

"Throughout the investigation and even up until admitting his guilt he has shown no remorse for the offence."