A schoolboy who pursued his ex-girlfriend before killing her in a frenzied knife attack has been unmasked, despite being under 18. Mr Justice Hilliard, the trial judge, concluded that Logan MacPhail, who is now 17 but was 16 at the time of the murder, should be identified in the public interest, removing an order to protect minors.
Holly Newton, 15, had complained about MacPhail’s obsessive behaviour just hours before he stabbed her repeatedly in an alleyway. She sustained 36 injuries in less than a minute on January 27, last year, the Mirror reports.
MacPhail travelled an hour and a half from his school in Gateshead, 25 miles away, to follow Holly when she left Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham, Northumberland, at 3.30pm. MacPhail was caught on CCTV, face hidden in a scarf, speaking to Holly at a bus stop just moments before killing her.
The Crown Prosecution Service also published images showing him boarding a bus from his hometown of Gateshead to Hexham on the day of the murder.
He was dressed in a black puffa jacket, black hat, tracksuit pants, and trainers, with the 6in knife in a bag on his back. He boards at 1.41pm and is observed looking about as he exits the No 10 bus from the MetroCentre in Hexham bus station, arriving at 3.13pm.
He stays outside Holly’s school till she leaves at 3.30pm with another boy. He follows her for almost an hour before asking to talk with her in a nearby alley. He then delivered the blows in an alley in the Priestpopple area.
One fatally entered her back, penetrating her chest and lung as she screamed, alerting passers-by. He slashed the throat of a 16-year-old boy who attempted to save her, just missing an artery in his neck.
MacPhail travelled 40 miles from his home in Birtley, Gateshead, to hang around outside her house in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, the evening before the murder, and police ultimately found him at 1am when his mother expressed worry for his wellbeing.
He had been outside of Holly’s home in Haltwhistle, Northumberland. Lifting the order today, Mr Justice Hillier said: “There is great public concern about murders by young people who have carried knives in public places and about violence to women and girls.
“Legitimate debate is assisted by knowing who has committed such offences and their circumstances and the full detail of the offences in question.”
Holly, a “much-loved, talented” schoolgirl, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the attack despite the best efforts of medics to save her.
Queen Elizabeth High School described her as a “truly lovely student” who was “quiet, conscientious, helpful and kind”.
Holly’s mum Micala Trussler told how her daughter had “begged” her to let her go into town after school on the day of her murder rather than come home to meet the police about the stalking, so the meeting was rescheduled for later that evening. “In the end, the biggest mistake of my life,” she said. “He has ruined our lives and he took Holly’s.”
Speaking outside court after MacPhail was found guilty of murder in August, she said: “To think she should have been receiving her GCSE results last week. Instead our baby girl’s future was taken away from her. No result will ever bring our beautiful girl back.”
Holly’s step-father Lee Trussler said he was “haunted” by her death. MacPhail claimed his mind was “blank” at the time of the attack and he had intended to kill himself with the knife. He then admitted he attacked Holly before backtracking and saying he never intended to hurt her.
He had turned up uninvited at Holly’s home in Haltwhistle, Northumberland the evening before the murder, travelling from his home in Birtley, Gateshead. It was agreed Holly should not leave school if he was outside, Newcastle Crown Court was told. Holly texted a friend just hours before the stabbing, telling her MacPhail was “stalking her”, jurors heard. In just over a minute, he inflicted 36 knife wounds on Holly, stabbing her 12 times, slashing her 19 times, and causing five “defensive” injuries.
In police interviews, MacPhail told police that her last words to him were ‘I love you’. He said: “I know the knife was in my hands and I saw the knife in my hands. So I guess I did do that. I had the knife from home. I had it all week in my bag. I wanted to hurt myself and find a place where no one was around and no one would find me.
“I remember putting it in my wrist and I remember then she said that word and the knife coming down. Then she said she loved me and an adult pinned me down and tried to hit me.”
He added: “I was told that I had stabbed her but I cannot remember. My last memory was that I was on top of her. That was when I heard ‘I love you’, they were the last words I heard. Then my mind went blank.” They had met at army cadets around three years earlier. MacPhail, who has autism, was arrested at the scene.
His police interviews were played at a hearing where a judge had to rule if he was mentally capable and fit to enter a plea in his trial. He was found guilty of murder in August, and is sentenced at the end of this month. Holly, a “much-loved, talented” schoolgirl, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the attack despite the best efforts of medics to save her Queen Elizabeth High School described Holly as a “truly lovely student” who was “quiet, conscientious, helpful and kind”.
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