Murderer who beat ex to death over days jailed

Melissa Eastick was murdered in Sunderland in October 2023

A man who beat his "frail and vulnerable" ex-partner to death over several days has been jailed for at least 21 years and four months.

Melissa Eastick, 36, had more than 100 injuries including broken bones, extensive bruising and cigarette burns when she died in Sunderland in October 2023.

Stephen Todd, 41, admitted murder after the first day of his trial and has now been handed a life sentence with a minimum term to serve.

Ms Eastick's family told Newcastle Crown Court she "just wanted to be loved".

Three months before the attack, Todd had been given a suspended prison sentence for assaulting Ms Eastick, the court heard, and she returned to him after he was released from being held on remand in prison.

Stephen Todd admitted murder after the first day of his trial

The last recorded sighting of Ms Eastick was on 2 October when she and Todd went to a nearby supermarket to buy food before returning to his flat on Stockton Terrace in Grangetown.

She was known to still be alive four days later when she took a call from a mobile phone company, but after that only Todd knows what happened to her, the court heard.

At about 07:00 BST on 17 October Todd called 999 to say he was unable to wake Ms Eastick, prosecutor Peter Glenser KC said, but paramedics found her dead in a dark bedroom.

Todd claimed she had injured herself falling down stairs but it could be proved her multiple injuries had been inflicted over the course of several days, with the killer the only person seen entering or leaving the flat in that period.

Both had a history of alcohol addiction, with Ms Eastick described by Mr Glenser as "frail and vulnerable" and having spent a long time living in homeless shelters and refuges.

Melissa Eastick was murdered at Stephen Todd's first-floor flat in Grangetown

In a statement read to the court, Ms Eastick's sister Samantha Turnbull said she was the "baby of the family", being "small and dainty".

Ms Turnbull said the family repeatedly tried to help Ms Eastick, who was a much-loved sister, mother and aunty, and they felt guilty as well as "angry and frustrated" that she kept returning to Todd.

"He didn't care for her at all," Ms Turnbull said, adding they never saw her without injuries inflicted by Todd.

"We can't stop thinking about her final days getting beaten up, repeatedly stamped on and rendered unconscious," Ms Turnbull said.

"She died in pain and alone."

'Days of torment'

Mr Glenser said Ms Eastick had 123 injuries inflicted over the course of a fortnight or so, with most of them to her face, head and abdomen.

Some may have been inflicted a day after Todd attended a probation service session on domestic abuse and building healthier relationships, the court heard.

Ms Eastick's serious head injuries would have required very substantial force, the court heard.

Prosecutors also considered whether Todd had raped her but could not prove sexual activity with her before her death was not consensual, Mr Glenser said.

He said only Todd could explain his motivations for carrying out "repeated serious beatings over a lengthy period", but Ms Eastick must have experienced "days and days of mental torment".

"She must have known what was coming," Mr Glesner said, adding she had previously told police she thought "it would end with him killing her".

In mitigation, Toby Hedworth KC said Todd was a "drunken, violent lout" who used Ms Eastick as a "punch bag", but there was "no intention to kill", adding Todd was "not the brightest of souls" and did not know the proper bounds of the harm he was causing.

"He did, over a period of several days, very dreadful things," Mr Hedworth said.

"He knows he has to pay the price for that."

'Callous disregard'

Mrs Justice Lambert said Ms Eastick's family had been "devastated and shocked" by her death.

She said Todd subjected her to a "number of brutal attacks" with "great force", including stamps and kicks to her head and blows which fractured facial bones, ribs and her spine.

The judge said Ms Eastick was a "petite and fragile" woman who would have been unable to defend herself, adding it must have a been "terrifying and immensely painful" final few days.

She said Ms Eastick must have been unconscious for at least 24 hours, if not several days, before her death but Todd sought no medical help for her.

Instead he went out to see friends as she lay in his flat which showed a "callous disregard" for her, Mrs Justice Lambert said.

The judge said Todd also clearly had "emotional power" over Ms Eastick who believed it was a "loving" relationship, which was a "violation of the trust and security that normally exists between people in an intimate relationship".

She also said any remorse felt by Todd had "come very late in the day".