Jane Collinson murder: Barnard Castle killer Stephen Ansbro jailed

Jane Collinson, 59, suffered almost 60 knife wounds

A murderer who tried to make his neighbour's killing look like a suicide has been jailed for at least 18 years.

Stephen Ansbro "brutally" stabbed and slashed Jane Collinson, 59, in her sheltered accommodation flat almost 60 times, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Ansbro, 60, had previously warned he would kill Mrs Collinson who was a neighbour in the County Durham flats.

Sentencing him to life after Ansbro admitted murder, the judge said her last moments were "utterly terrifying".

The court heard Ansbro and Mrs Collinson - a grandmother-of-nine - lived at Dunelm Court, a sheltered housing accommodation in Barnard Castle for people over 60 and over-55s with disabilities.

Stephen Ansbro slashed his own neck in an attempt to make himself look like the victim

Prosecutor Mark McKone KC said Ansbro, who was unable to walk long distances and used an electric wheelchair, had relationships with four women at the complex and Mrs Collinson had made a complaint to another resident's son about him "getting too close" to the man's mother.

Ansbro told people he "did not like" Mrs Collinson and he would "kill her" and "do time for her", Mr McKone said.

On 3 March Ansbro went to her one-bedroom flat and spent several hours there, the court heard.

At about 18:30 GMT he was caught on CCTV leaving the flat in his wheelchair then spending about a minute fiddling with the front door.

Mr McKone said Ansbro had found a way of activating the bolt from the outside to make it appear it had been locked from the inside, adding he wanted to "make it look like Jane had been alone when she was stabbed so it looked like a suicide".

Ansbro and Jane Collinson both lived at Dunelm Court in Barnard Castle

The following day Mrs Collinson's family forced their way into her flat and found her wearing her dressing gown and slumped on the sofa covered in blood.

A blood-stained breadknife with a 20cm-long blade was found in the kitchen sink the court heard.

Mr McKone said Mrs Collinson had suffered 59 knife wounds across her head, neck, face, arms, legs and torso.

'Struggled significantly'

She bled heavily from the multiple wounds but could have taken "tens of minutes" to lose consciousness, the court heard.

Mrs Collinson also showed signs of having been punched and slapped, Mr McKone said, adding she would have "struggled significantly" during the assault and suffered multiple defence wounds.

Pathologist Dr Nigel Cooper concluded she died from blood loss, the court heard.

Ansbro told police Mrs Collinson had stabbed him in the neck but his wounds were deemed to be "self-inflicted", Mr McKone said.

Stephen Ansbro was filmed on CCTV going to Jane Collinson's flat where he spent about seven hours before killing her

In statements read to the court, Mrs Collinson's family said she had been excited, planning her 60th birthday and daughter's wedding, adding she had much to look forward to in life.

Her husband Garth Collinson, a farmer who married her in 2019, said she was "simply my best friend and soulmate" and he could not "imagine the pain and suffering she went through".

Mrs Collinson's daughters said she was "amazing, kind and caring" and was the "beating heart of our family".

Groomed by 'monster'

They said she loved music and dancing and was a big fan of David Bowie and 4 Non Blondes, adding she did not let her inability to sing stop her from belting out tunes at the top of her voice.

Ansbro was also sentenced for four counts of indecent assault against a 14-year-old girl he had "groomed", one cruelty charge against another child, all from the 1990s, and one count of failing to surrender.

The girl said he was a "monster" who took away her childhood and "nothing could make up for the damage he had caused".

The victim of the child cruelty charge said Ansbro would punish them by making them stand naked in a garage for an hour at a time.

Peter Moulson KC, defending, said Ansbro, who has 62 previous convictions including for a robbery in the 1980s which saw him jailed for six years, had demonstrated his remorse with his guilty pleas.

His honour Judge Paul Sloan KC, the recorder of Newcastle, said Mrs Collinson's murder was a "sustained and particularly brutal attack".

He said no sentence could "ever begin to ease the pain" of Mrs Collinson's family, adding they would suffer for the rest of their lives.

The judge said Mrs Collison should have been safe in her own home and she "desperately resisted" the attack, adding: "The last moments of her life must have been utterly terrifying and her mental and physical suffering excruciating."

Ansbro was also jailed for four years and nine months for each sexual offence and 11 months for the child cruelty charge, all to be served concurrently to each other but consecutive to his murder sentence.