Husband given minimum 25 years for savage knife killing

A judge told Ty Medland, 26, he was responsible for the “frenzied and savage” murder of Samantha Medland in public.

Medland used one of four knives he hid on himself to launch the attack on 24-year-old Mrs Medland in central Brighton, East Sussex.

Before the attack, Medland uploaded to his Facebook page a link to a series of graphic pictures and videos of the couple having sex.

A message accompanying the link called Mrs Medland “the cheating, lying, unloyal whore who destroyed everything”.

A trial at Lewes Crown Court heard that she had become close to another man and had rebuffed her husband’s repeated attempts to patch up their marriage.

Medland, described as incapable of dealing with rejection, knifed her to death as she collected belongings from him near her workplace in Brighton, on February 17.

Medland, of Peacehaven, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but on Friday he was convicted of murder.

Judge Anthony Scott-Gall said Medland could not accept his estranged wife’s decision that their marriage was over.

The judge said: “I am satisfied, as were the jury, that you couldn’t accept this rejection, added to which was the suggestion in your mind that your wife had started a relationship with another man.”

Judge Scott-Gall said he accepted that tragedy had touched Medland’s life before he murdered, including the death of his daughter and a miscarriage suffered by Mrs Medland.

But the judge added: “In my judgment, your motive was clear. You intended to kill your wife because a) she had rejected you and b) because you couldn’t bear the prospect of her being with another man.”

The judge went on: “Her screams alerted local residents who were witness to those awful events. This was a brutal attack that was pre-planned.”

Defence counsel Graham Trembath QC said Medland was “indescribably sorry” for his actions and that he was “desperate” for that to be publicly known.

He said he was suffering from depression and had been taking medication.