The mother of Holly Newton, who was stabbed to death by her jealous former boyfriend, has called for a change in the law on domestic abuse.
Holly, 15, was murdered in Hexham, Northumberland, by Logan MacPhail after she ended their relationship.
At the first day of his sentencing hearing at Newcastle crown court, her mother, Micala Trussler, said she thought it was wrong that the murder would be categorised as knife crime rather than domestic abuse crime, the legal age threshold of which is 16.
Trussler said she had been unaware of the “sheer scale of the emotional turmoil” her daughter was going through after she attempted to break up with MacPhail.
“Although the legal definition states that I’m not allowed to call it domestic abuse, the situation that Holly found herself in was a classic case of domestic abuse,” Trussler said.
“I do not agree that only those over the age of 16 can be victims of domestic abuse and I will use Holly’s experience to petition for change.
“I firmly believe that Logan thought if he couldn’t have Holly, then no one else could.”
The court has heard that MacPhail stalked and hid from Holly as she walked with friends through Hexham after her school day finished.
Holly, from Haltwhistle, agreed to talk to him down an alleyway and it was here he killed her, inflicting 36 stab wounds in the space of a minute.
A boy who tried to stop the attack was also stabbed before members of the public intervened and emergency services were called.
Recalling the aftermath of the murder in January 2023, Trussler spoke of how she was unable to hug, kiss or touch Holly while the teenager lay in hospital “because my daughter was a crime scene. She was evidence.”
Trussler said Holly told her MacPhail had access to her social media accounts and somehow knew her passwords. He also used the threat of self-harm as “emotional blackmail”, Trussler said.
Trussler said children should be taught in school about healthy relationships. If Holly had been offered domestic abuse services then she may have recognised the red flags raised by MacPhail’s behaviour, Trussler said.
“I won’t want Holly to become another statistic,” she said. “There is so much media coverage about how many women are killed each year by men, it almost normalises it for young men like Logan. Things have got to change.”
Trussler said Holly’s relationship with MacPhail had appeared like one of “typical teenagers” and he was invited into their home most weekends.
“He was Holly’s first and only boyfriend and it’s no surprise that Logan would fall for a girl like Holly.”
Trussler said her daughter was “caring, funny, energetic and at times outspoken”.
The trial judge Mr Justice Hilliard thanked Trussler for her words, adding: “You have done Holly’s memory proud by the way you have handled it.”
MacPhail was convicted of murder, as well as wounding with intent on the boy who stepped in to try to stop the attack. MacPhail claimed he never planned to attack Holly and wanted to use the knife to kill himself.
He denied murder but admitted manslaughter, claiming he blacked out, but his story was rejected by the jury.
Last month, the judge lifted the anonymity order on MacPhail, who has autism and learning difficulties. Now 17, he was 16 at the time of the murder. He is due to be sentenced on Friday.
