Bournemouth Travelodge death: Man sentenced for killing hotel receptionist

Stephen Cole was captured on CCTV repeatedly "punching and kicking" his victim

A man has been given an indefinite hospital order for the "brutal" killing of a hotel receptionist in Bournemouth.

Stephen Cole, 32, attacked Marta Vento, 27, while she worked at a Travelodge in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, in December.

Cole, who the court heard was suffering from psychosis, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

He will be detained in a hospital for an unlimited period.

Marta Vento was killed while working in the hotel reception area

Judge Angela Morris described the attack, which happened over 42 minutes, as "brutal, sustained and horrific".

The court heard Cole, who had a set of clippers in his hand, launched a prolonged attack on Spanish national Ms Vento, who was working alone, in the hotel reception on the morning of 9 December.

Tom Wright, prosecuting, said "she had been brutally beaten" and suffered "injuries consistent with the repeated punching and kicking" captured by CCTV footage in the lobby shown in court.

Cole was arrested after walking into a police station and saying: "I just killed someone."

Marta Vento's body was found at the Travelodge on Christchurch Road

Mr Wright said a psychiatrist for the Crown concluded Cole was "actively psychotic" at the time of the attack.

He added Cole told the psychiatrist he could get the help he needed if the police came to the hotel.

The court heard the paranoid schizophrenic was first diagnosed after being arrested for exposing his genitals to the public on three occasions during June and July 2020.

'Infinite pain'

Days before the attack on 4 December, he was evicted from Russell Court Hotel in Bournemouth after allegedly punching and kicking two guests unprovoked.

Police later visited Cole at the Travelodge on 7 December and described him as "agitated" about smoke detectors and "banging on windows" even though he was on the fourth floor.

On the same day his family phoned his GP surgery requesting medication, but Cole "had not taken his medication for some days", Mr Wright said.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Vento's father Luis Elena Blas said his family had suffered "infinite pain" and her death had "devastated many people".

He also called for "every person responsible" for his daughter's death to be held to account, including the hotel management and those responsible for Cole's healthcare.

Sentencing, Judge Morris added there had been a "regrettable and irreversible failure by some to spot the signs of your psychotic deterioration despite you and your father trying to obtain the anti-psychotic medication you so desperately needed after your release from prison".