Life term for street killer of pregnant woman

A MAN who stabbed a pregnant woman to death in the street has been jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 20 years.

Alan McMullan plunged a kitchen knife into Claire Wilson's back as she walked to her job as a Pizza Hut waitress in Grimsby on June 7 last year. She was six months pregnant and her unborn baby, named April, also died in the attack.

McMullan had denied murder by reason of diminished responsibility and claimed he was hearing voices in his head telling him to kill.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But a jury took just over 30 minutes to find the 54-year-old guilty and police said afterwards he had tried to "hoodwink the justice system".

Sentencing McMullan at Hull Crown Court yesterday, Judge Michael Mettyear said it was unlikely McMullan would ever be considered safe to release.

He said: "This was a horrendous killing. Your victim was 21 years old, six months pregnant and on her way to work.

"You stabbed her in broad daylight in a town centre. She had everything to live for. You ended her life for your own distorted and selfish ends.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"As a result of your actions the baby's life was also lost. The sympathy of the court goes out to her family, her partner and her friends."

He added: "I have read of the terrible struggle that the family have had to cope with following what you did. The loss must be hard to bear."

The judge said it was another example of a town centre knifing, which "understandably worries and concerns communities".

In the year before the killing McMullan had gone into Grimsby Police station on three separate occasions, armed with a knife and claiming voices were ordering him to kill.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, he gave varying accounts of the auditory hallucinations, and expert witnesses who gave evidence at his trial disagreed about whether he was actually hearing them, and whether he was mentally ill.

After the first two visits to the police station he was admitted to a psychiatric unit in Grimsby, but after a third assessment he was turned away when staff decided he was "exaggerating" his symptoms just to get a bed.

The court also heard McMullan was lonely and angry at being unable to find work, and blamed immigrants for taking jobs to which he thought he was entitled .

Following the verdict, however, mental health charity Sane called for an inquiry and said the case raised questions about the level of care and supervision McMullan received.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The chief executive of North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus, Jane Lewington, said the trust found no "significant" gaps in McMullan's care after carrying out its own review.

She said: "From our assessments we had no reason to suspect he presented a significant risk to himself or to others.

"While the court has determined that mental impairment had nothing to do with this crime, immediately following the offence we reviewed his care in detail and found no significant omissions in the care and treatment provided to Mr McMullan."

The trust has, however, implemented a number of recommendations made in the review, including increased staff training in risk assessment and referring "complex" cases for community follow-up.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ms Lewington added: "This was an extremely sad and tragic event and I would like to express my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Claire Wilson for their devastating loss."

Judge Mettyear also awarded a payment of 250 from the public purse to witness Stephen Page, who got out of his car and gave chase to McMullan while his mother tended to Miss Wilson, leaving his two young children in the car.

Mr Page enlisted the help of another man and followed McMullan before alerting officers in a police van.

Judge Mettyear said Mr Page was "extremely brave" and invited the chief constable of Humberside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to write to him to express their gratitude.

Related topics: