An obsessed and jealous teenager who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in an alleyway has been jailed for life and told he will serve a minimum of 17 years.

Logan MacPhail murdered 15-year-old Holly Newton in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023.

He stabbed her 36 times after he stalked her for an hour as she walked with friends after school.

Newcastle crown court heard that MacPhail, who was 16 at the time of the murder and now 17, had been Holly’s first and only boyfriend and at the start it was “a typical teenage relationship”.

But MacPhail became obsessed with Holly, wanting to know where she was and who she was going out with. Holly’s mother, Micala Trussler, said her daughter was a victim of domestic abuse.

He killed Holly, from Haltwhistle, Northumberland, after she tried to break up with him.

The defendant, from Gateshead, has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and has learning difficulties.

MacPhail claimed he never planned to attack Holly but wanted to use the knife to kill himself. He denied murder but admitted manslaughter, claiming he blacked out, but his story was rejected by a jury after a six-week trial.

More details soon …