Condolence book comforts murder victim's parents

The parents of a woman who was murdered by her boyfriend in 2021 have said they turned to a book of messages from her colleagues and friends for comfort.

Megan Newborough, 23, was attacked and strangled by Ross McCullam at his Leicestershire home on 6 August 2021.

Her parents, Elaine and Anthony Newborough, said they recently started reading the notes to remember how other people saw their daughter.

The couple said it had helped them during their campaign for harsher sentences for people who kill inside their homes.

Ms Newborough was killed by McCullam - who she met through work - after he invited her to his home in Coalville.

The 30-year-old cut her throat 14 times before hiding her body in undergrowth in Woodhouse Eaves.

Mr and Mrs Newborough, from Nuneaton, said they wanted to "create a legacy" for their daughter, but found reliving the story "difficult".

"Every single time we have to talk about the story again it takes a bit more of you with it," Mrs Newborough said.

"It's almost putting you straight back there at that time.

"It brings back all the emotion, all the feelings. It is horrific."

Elaine and Anthony Newborough unveiled a black and blue plaque in memory of their daughter Megan

Mrs Newborough said the book, which was put together by her daughter's colleagues and friends, was a help.

"It's how well respected she was and what she meant to all of those people as well," she said.

"It's easy for us to say how wonderful she was.

"But if you hear other people's words about her, it becomes a little bit more real that she was this lovely person that everybody loved."

McCullam was jailed for at least 23 years in December, which the couple said was lenient for a partner murdered at home.

They have been working with the charity Killed Women, which helps families of women killed by men.

Mrs Newborough said: "When a murder takes place in a home, the starting point is 15 years.

"If that same murder happens outside the home, the starting point is 25 years.

"There's such disparity between the two that we are attempting to raise awareness and get the government to address the 10-year disparity."