Woman jailed after luring men with sex to kill

Charlotte Collinge, 45, was jailed for a minimum of 23 years, while Stephen Shreeves, 40, and Kelvin Dale, 27, were each jailed for 18 years.

Sentencing the trio at Nottingham Crown Court, the judge, His Honour Mr Justice Colman Treacy, said: “The killing of Clifford Collinge in his own home was a truly shocking offence.

“On the evidence I have heard, I’m satisfied he was a man who offered no harm to any of you and who indeed had, over a number of years, tolerated the wilful and manipulative behaviour of an unfaithful wife.”

During the trial, the court heard that Collinge met the two men in the pub before inviting them back to the marital home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on the promise of sex on October 8 last year.

Clifford Collinge was found dead in a pool of blood with 46 separate injuries on the kitchen floor of the house in Sandy Lane later that night.

A clamp had been used in the attack on the 61-year-old.

A jury convicted Collinge, Shreeves and Dale of murder last week after a trial at Nottingham Crown Court. Another man, Robert Proud, 36, was cleared of murder by the same jury.

The court heard that Collinge met the two men in the pub for the first time last October.

Shreeves said he was aware of her reputation and that she had the nickname “Charlotte the harlot”. He said there were rumours that she took men back to her house and had sex with them while her husband watched.

During the evening, Shreeves and Dale, who both denied Mr Collinge’s murder, snorted cocaine in the toilets of the bar and drank a number of pints.

He said Collinge invited them back to her house for sex and told them no-one was at home.

“She behaved very sexually towards everyone,” he said.

“Someone said if you buy her half a lager she’ll do anything, so I bought her two, to laughter from the group we were with,” he said.

On approaching her house, Collinge said she hated her husband and asked them if they knew anyone who could kill him, Shreeves said.

In police interview, he also told officers she had said: “I want him dead.”

He said: “We just laughed but then the penny started to drop that she was a little bit more dangerous than we first thought.

“I thought it was a set-up, a f****** honeytrap or something.”

Sentencing the trio at Nottingham Crown Court today, Mr Justice Colman Treacy said: “You, Shreeves, and you, Dale, were responsible for this attack. You, Charlotte Collinge, were not present at the violence but you instigated it.”

He said the two men carried out the brutal attack fuelled by alcohol and illegal drugs, probably not even knowing her husband’s name, after going back to the house on the promise of sex.

Mr Treacy said there was a clear intention to kill “born out of the ferocity of the attack” but that there was little pre-planning.

He said on her return to the house, Collinge stepped over her dying husband’s body to recover her cannabis and laptop.

“He would have lingered, fatally injured, for at least 20 minutes in severe pain, struggling for breath and unable to get help.”

During the trial, the court heard that the couple, who had been together for 17 years in total, had a rocky relationship peppered with break-ups and reconciliations, and divorce had been discussed.

The trio stared straight ahead as they were given life sentences by the judge today.

Sentencing Collinge, who looked emotionless in the dock, Mr Treacy said: “You were the instigator of this offence. You had considered the killing of your husband for your own selfish reasons.”

He said one of the motives must have been for financial gain and her strong desire to be “out of her marriage and rid of him”.

The judge told her she would serve a minimum term of 23 years before being considered for release on licence. Shreeves and Dale were handed a minimum term of 18 years each.

Following the sentencing yesterday, Mr Collinge’s daughter, Julie Bowles, said outside court:“We are truly devastated that we will never again see our dear old dad smile, and that he will miss out on watching his beloved grandchildren grow up.

“To have a child ask why their grandad had to die and not know the answer myself is beyond words.”