Killer who hid body beneath floor jailed

A callous killer who concealed his teenage girlfriend’s body under the floorboards of his home has been ordered to serve at least 17 years behind bars.

Stephen Devesey, 21, tried to cover his tracks by lying to his victim’s mother and using incense sticks to mask the smell of Nicole Cartmell’s decomposing body.

Sentencing Devesey to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years, Mrs Justice Thirlwall said the killer had destroyed a family’s happiness and taken away the life of a “bright and beautiful” young woman.

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A two-week trial heard that Nicole, 18, was asphyxiated shortly after she made a frightened 999 call on February 10 last year from Devesey’s home in Whateley Road, Handsworth, Birmingham.

Jurors unanimously convicted Devesey after hearing how Nicole’s body, lay undetected for almost three weeks.

Devesey, who did not give evidence to the court, had submitted through his barrister that he had no involvement in her death.

Mrs Justice Thirlwall said the victim, who had a young son by Devesey but lived with her mother in West Bromwich, had her whole life in front of her.

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“I am quite sure you intended to kill her,” the judge told Devesey. “You did not want her to leave you and so you made sure that she did not. She had made the decision that her future lay with the child and not you.”

The trial was told that Devesey had repeatedly lied about her disappearance.

Jurors also heard that the killer used his victim’s bank card on four occasions between her death and the discovery of her body at his home on March 2 last year.

In a statement, Nicole’s parents said: “The Cartmell family would like to give our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved with finally bringing our daughter Nicole’s murderer to justice. We hope this day will haunt him for ever and a day.”

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