UK's youngest female double murderer sentenced to life

Lorraine Thorpe had been brought up “with no real understanding of what is right and what is wrong”, a judge said yesterday as he sentenced the teenager for taking part in the murders of Desmond Thorpe and Rosalyn Hunt with 41-year-old Paul Clarke last August.

Ms Hunt, 41, was beaten to death in Ipswich over several days, with Thorpe responsible for kicking, punching and stamping on her head.

Mr Thorpe, 43, a “vulnerable” alcoholic, was smothered amid fears he would tell the police about the first murder.

Thorpe, now 16, of Ipswich, was told she must serve at least 14 years behind bars as she was sentenced at the Old Bailey.

Mr Justice Saunders said she could be “manipulative” and was not acting entirely under Clarke’s control, adding: “She found violence funny and entertaining.”

Clarke, also of Ipswich, has already been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years.

Thorpe became Britain’s youngest convicted female double murderer after the pair’s trial at Ipswich Crown Court, which ended last month.

Mary Bell, detained at the age of 11 in 1968 for the manslaughter of two boys aged three and four, remains the youngest female killer.

The judge said Clarke was the “instigator” in the murder of Ms Hunt, also an alcoholic, although Thorpe “played a full part”.

“She was responsible for protracted kicking, punching and stamping on Rosalyn, who was not fit to defend herself effectively from the outset.

“Far from being sorry, Lorraine appears to have gloried in it, describing to her friends at one stage how she stamped on Rosalyn’s head.”

Thorpe’s father was a “hopeless alcoholic” and “very vulnerable person” and she was his carer.

Thorpe was influenced by being in the company of Clarke, the “dominant” member of a group of heavy drinkers, and would try to impress him, said the judge. The court heard Thorpe’s parents split up when she was 12 and she lived with her mother before going to look after her father at 13.

They would move “from one squalid flat to another”, sometimes even living in tents.

“She was spending all her time with middle-aged alcoholics to whom violence had become normal. It had become part of their way of life. The alcoholics fought with each other. They stole in order to get the drink they craved,” said the judge.

Thorpe stopped going to school and stopped taking medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder .

“Social services were unable to keep track of her. When she was placed in a school, she escaped and went back to her father,” said the judge.

“She has been left with no real understanding of what is right and what is wrong.

“To describe her upbringing as not being a proper upbringing would be an understatement but it has left her as a violent young woman and a highly manipulative young woman as well.”

Graham Parkins QC, defending, said: “Lorraine was vulnerable herself, both physically and in terms of her emotional well-being.

“It was highly inappropriate for this young girl to be playing a role of carer to her drunken and indeed very frail father.

“She never really had much of a chance in life.”