Man gets life sentence for fatally stabbing ex-girlfriend 75 times

Obsessed Joshua Stimpson was jailed for life for murdering his ex Molly McLaren.

Stimpson stalked the 23-year-old university student before inflicting at least 75 wounds on her as she sat helplessly in her car at a shopping center in Kent, which is in southeastern England.

Stimpson will have to serve a minimum term of 26 years before he can be considered for release.

Judge Adele Williams said the attack was committed in public and was premeditated with planning.

During sentencing, the judge added: “She was 23 years old, beautiful and intelligent.

“She was a second-year student at the University of Kent. She had her whole life in front of her.

“She was loved and a much loving daughter, family member and friend to many. She is mourned by a large number of people.

“Her family’s grief and anguish is raw and apparent for everyone to see.

“Their loss and grief is immeasurable and nothing I can say or any sentence I can pass can deal with that grief and loss.

“You have shown no remorse for killing Molly.

“You are concerned only with yourself and your own feelings.

“You have a narcissistic personality trait, and I am sure you are not suffering from a personality disorder, having heard the psychiatric evidence.

“You are supremely selfish and callous. You planned this killing.”

During Stimpson’s trial it was revealed that he was triggered after McLaren broke off their four-month relationship. They first met through the dating app Tinder.

He knifed McLaren scores of times in the head and neck “again and again” in what a witness described as “like a frenzy.”

Brave witness Benjamin Morton tried to pull Stimpson off McLaren as he continued the attack but could not do so.

Morton then tried to shut the door on Stimpson’s leg, but Stimpson just closed the door and continued stabbing McLaren.

Stimpson eventually stopped the attack, got out of the car and paced up and down.

The 26-year-old admitted manslaughter, but on Tuesday he was found guilty of murder despite claiming diminished responsibility.

Two psychiatrists gave conflicting views on Stimpson’s mental state at the time of the attack.

Defense expert Dr. Shahid Majid assessed him as suffering from an “abnormality of functioning” arising from a mental condition, while prosecution psychiatrist Dr. Philip Joseph said he believed Stimpson was not suffering from any recognized medical condition.

McLaren and Stimpson first made contact on Tinder in July 2016 before meeting up that November.

She decided to end the relationship four months later in March 2017

He then posted derogatory comments and photographs about McLaren on social media.

Police spoke to Stimpson about it after she reported him, but he continued to contact her and followed her to a pub and to her job at a gym.

She was working out when Stimpson entered the gym in June. She asked him: “Are you following me now?”

She texted her mother, Jo, at 10:45 am to tell her: “Mom he’s turned up at the gym and come next to me.”

She also phoned her mother, who told her to go straight home.

McLaren contacted friends on Whatsapp. At 11:02 am, she posted: “Feel like I’m f—-ing looking over my shoulder all the time.”

Stimpson discovered that McLaren had blocked him on Facebook. He told a female friend, and she said: “Don’t worry, we can stalk from mine if we need to.”

In a message to a friend, McLaren said: “I am scared he might hurt me. I don’t know how on edge he is.”

The friend asked: “Physically hurt you?” McLaren replied: “Yeah. He knows my parents are going away for two weeks. I am going to the police tomorrow.”

McLaren also complained about Stimpson being manipulative, adding: “He has turned really nasty. He has literally lost the plot.”

Stimpson arrived at McLaren’s gym in June 2017, and after she left, he approached her and stabbed her to death.

In addition to the murder weapon, police recovered two Stanley knives and a pickax from Stimpson’s car at the scene.

Stimpson was caught on security cameras buying a Subatier paring knife, which he used to kill McLaren. It was later found in the driver’s seat of her car.

He also bought a Saxon pickax, which was recovered from his car after the killing.

After his arrest, Stimpson was asked by a mental- health nurse if he had been having thoughts about harming McLaren, and he replied: “Maybe yesterday, but I didn’t act on them.”

Asked if he had experienced any difficulties with his thoughts, he said: “I must have or I wouldn’t have done this.”

Stimpson claimed he was bipolar, but the prosecution psychiatrist said he very much doubted it, the court heard.

On Tuesday, after a two-week trial, a jury convicted him of murder.