Pair jailed for hiding evidence son was a murderer

Elliot Turner, 20, was found guilty by a jury at Winchester Crown Court in May of murdering 17-year-old Emily Longley in his bed after going “absolutely nuts” in a jealous rage.

Sentencing him, Mrs Justice Dobbs said he had “bullied, harassed, threatened and assaulted” Emily to control her as his “trophy” girlfriend.

And she told him to put away thoughts of “champagne, Bentleys and girls” as she sentenced him to life imprisonment and told him he would serve at least 16 years in jail.

His parents Leigh, 54, and Anita, 51, were sentenced yesterday at the same court after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

They helped to cover up the crime by destroying a confession letter from their son and taking away vital evidence after the killing at their home in Bournemouth, Dorset, in May last year.

Their son was also sentenced to nine months, to run concurrently, for perverting the course of justice.

Sentencing the couple, Mrs Justice Dobbs said: “I appreciate it must be very difficult for a parent when faced with the situation you found yourself in but you well knew what you did was wrong and against the law.

“You gave no thought to the consequences for your youngest son and now he is going to be without his parents for an important part of his development.”

She said the act of destroying a confession letter was a “very serious offence” and added: “It strikes at the integrity of the criminal justice system.”

She said: “It was one act of destruction but in a sense it continued because you didn’t have the guts to go to the police and tell them what you had done.”

The judge said that she understood that Mrs Turner was still coming to terms with the fact her son was a convicted murderer.

She added: “I take into account you are people of previous good character and from that you have not been sentenced to a term of imprisonment before.

“People speak highly of you both and it’s a tragedy that you, who are both respectable people, have lost that by acting out of misplaced loyalty. It must be hard for you to come to terms with what the jury found your son did.”

Speaking of Elliot’s younger brother, Mrs Justice Dobbs added: “He has had to live with the knowledge that his brother was convicted of murder and, if that was not enough, his parents have been convicted of a serious offence and that must be a heavy burden to bear and he has lost his friends because of this.”

Speaking of Mr Turner, she added: “You have expressed remorse for Emily’s death but for your own actions you have shown precious little.”

The court heard that Mr Turner destroyed the confession letter written by his son with the knowledge and agreement of his wife.

Mrs Turner also removed a jacket from the crime scene.

Their actions were uncovered when police bugged their house and recorded conversations where they discussed whether they had done the right thing.

Mr Turner had been made redundant and was suffering from depression and illness.

Robert Grey, defending Mr Turner, said he had acted when his “mind was in turmoil” .

He said: “He has to live with the fact his son is a convicted murderer. He has two children, the oldest is a convicted murderer and he has to live with that for the rest of his life and his son is in prison for a very, very long time.”

Fern Russell, representing Mrs Turner, said: “She is a mother who couldn’t accept that her son had committed the worst imaginable crime and it was in that turmoil that she carried out that act.”