Sol look-a-like jailed for murder

Peter Martin knew his relationship with Karen Hartshorne was over but could not accept she was with someone else, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Miss Hartshorne's throat was cut and she was stabbed six times at her home in Coseley, West Midlands, in February.

Martin, 38, later threatened to jump off a bridge on the M6 at Walsall.

He admitted her murder last month at Wolverhampton Crown Court and earlier this week was convicted of the attempted murder of Ms Hartshorne's new boyfriend Paul Round.

Martin, of no fixed address, was signed up to an agency as a look-a-like of Portsmouth and former England footballer Campbell.

Judge Frank Chapman told him the ferocity of the killing meant that he posed a risk of serious harm to the public.

He said he accepted that the killing was not premeditated and he read out a letter written by Martin to the court.

"As you say, she did not deserve what you did to her, and her family are left without her and only with their memories," Judge Chapman said.

Malcolm Bishop QC, defending, said his client had been depressed at the time due to the break-up of the relationship and financial worries.

He said: "The behaviour of the defendant that day in climbing onto a motorway bridge was a genuine attempt to do away with himself engendered by the realisation of what he had done."

After sentencing, Ms Hartshorne's family issued a statement saying while they were satisfied with the verdict it did not compensate for losing her. They also urged all victims of domestic violence to try and get help.

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