Details
have emerged how a crazed boyfriend brutally murdered his girlfriend
after she hinted that she was leaving the relationship.
The grief-stricken mother of a 'prodigiously-gifted' maths graduate
today spoke in harrowing detail of visiting the flat where her daughter
was brutally stabbed to death by her jealous ex-boyfriend.
Poppy Devey Waterhouse, 24, suffered more than 100 injuries
including 23 stab wounds to her head and neck after she was murdered
with a kitchen knife in a 'frenzied' attack days before Christmas last
year.
She was subjected to a 'long and brutal' death at the hands of her
university sweetheart Joe Atkinson, who also had a masters degree in
maths, at the flat they shared in Leeds.
Today, the 25-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of
15 years after pleading guilty to murdering Poppy in an attack 'fuelled
by jealousy' - two months after the William Hill betting analyst broke
off their three-year relationship.
In an emotional impact statement today, Poppy's mother Julie Devey revealed how she 'kept
scraping my hands across the floorboards where she had been left
screaming' after visiting the blood-soaked flat where she died.
'I just wanted to scoop her up and save her,' she added. 'I
sank to the floor sobbing and screaming, I kept clawing at the carpet
screaming 'no, no, no'.'
Her tearful father Rupert Waterhouse also spoke of the 'great pain'
of not being 'there for my daughter when she needed me most'.
'I could only kiss her cold forehead when it was too late and
tell her I love her,' he said, adding how Poppy was murdered 'by the man
that she loved and trusted'.
The 'eloquence and incredible testimonial' of each of Poppy's
family members was praised by the defendant's family, as Atkinson's
lawyer said of him: 'There were absolutely no signs from anybody about
what might come'.
He added that it was a 'complete departure from everything that had defined this 25-year-old to date.'
Prosecutors explained how the pair had been together for three
years by late 2018, but had broken up at the request of Miss Devey
Waterhouse, an analyst for William Hill, in October.
The attack took place on December 114 after Atkinson arrived back
from his work Christmas party, just two days before he was due to move
out of the flat.
Miss Devey Waterhouse was stabbed in her bedroom and hallway,
suffering more than 100 injuries, with over 49 knife wounds including 23
to her head and neck.
They had both started seeing other people but Atkinson could not
accept Miss Devey Waterhouse wanted a future without him, the court
heard.
Miss Devey Waterhouse also suffered bruising and injuries consistent with trying to prevent restraint, the court heard.
Following the attack, Atkinson then drove to Leeds, West
Yorkshire, to dispose of his clothes and the murder weapon, which has
not been recovered by police.
Atkinson did not call 999 for three hours as he was 'scared' and
when ambulance staff arrived, they found the victim in a pool of blood
near the flat entrance.
After being arrested by officers, Atkinson initially blamed the attack on Miss Devey Waterhouse.
The couple were keen travellers who shared photos from their trips abroad to countries such as Morocco, Lithuania and Greece.
The court heard that Miss Devey Waterhouse scored 100 per cent in
her William Hill job application, one of only two people to do so.
She was the only applicant to rank in the top 10 for each of the
four areas scored and was graded by her bosses as 'remarkable', a rank
reserved for the top five per cent of employees - she was the first ever
employee to get such a grade in their first year.
Her mother Julie said 'half' of her had died on the day of her
daughter's murder and she had been living in a 'dense, grey fog' since
the day.
Occasionally glancing at the defendant, who sat in the dock with
his head bowed, the mother explained how she has saved images from her
daughter's Instagram page, but said of the pictures that have Atkinson
in: 'I do not make a copy of those photos. How can I, when they make me
sick?'
She said: 'Half of me died on Friday, December 14. My baby, my
daughter, my life as I know it has ended, has died suddenly, violently
and cruelly.
'As a parent, my basic duty is to keep my daughter safe. I failed and I have kept that failure with me wherever I go.
'The future does not exist to me. All I see is a dense grey fog.'
She described the moment she was taken from her office at work to
be told of her daughter's death and how she clawed at the carpet
screaming 'no, no no'.
She concluded her impact statement in tears, stating: 'Today we are all here to witness the sentencing of Joe Atkinson, but my life sentence has already begun.'
Mr Waterhouse, the victim's father, described her as 'beautiful and brilliant'.
The court heard how she was the only person in William Hill's
history to be given a verdict of 'remarkable' at a job appraisal during
her first year.
Mr Waterhouse said: 'She was killed by the man she shared her
life with, who she trusted and felt safe with. The man who destroyed all
our lives that morning.'
Describing the day he heard his sister was murdered, Miss Devey Waterhouse's brother Zeb said: 'The rest of the evening was a blur.
'I do have one recollection of lying on the leaves in the park
opposite screaming at the sky: 'Why?' It's a question I've not stopped
asking
'The smell of the mortuary. Seeing her body in the crack in the door. I froze, seeing how still she was.
'The anger that I felt then and I felt now I'll never be able
to put into words. Never before have I felt hate like this and never
before have I felt love like his.
'But also never before have I felt guilt like this. Guilt for
not appreciating the incredible sister I had or telling her how much I
loved her.
'I thought I had more time. Turns out I had my heart set on being a fun uncle.
'I've lost the role model that I've looked up to since the day I
was born. Every time I achieve something will I be reminded of what Pop
could've achieved?
'I'll never stop telling Pop how much I love her. I hope she
knew. I love you Pop and I can't wait to tell the world about you for
the rest of my life.'
Jason Pitter, prosecuting, said: 'Poppy was a prodigiously
talented mathematician, who was described as brilliant and beautiful
who, at the age of 24, had her whole life ahead of her.
'It was a life cruelly taken away from her just before
Christmas last year, because this defendant realised he was not going to
be a part of this future.'
The prosecutor said, to tears from the victim's family: 'He had armed himself with a kitchen knife and murdered Poppy in an unprovoked attack fuelled by jealousy.'
Sentencing Atkinson to life in jail with a minimum term of 16 years, Mr Justice Lavender said: 'Joe Atkinson, you have pleaded guilty to the murder of Poppy Devey Waterhouse.
'You stabbed her to death. You had been in a relationship for three years and that had ended.
'You went back to the flat after a night out drinking and got
into an argument with her. You went into the kitchen and stabbed her in
the bedroom.
'In your own words: 'I don't know how many times I stabbed her. I only stopped when it all went calm and she stopped moving.
'This was clearly a frenzied and savage attack. Her's was a
violent and terrible death. Poppy was a young woman with so much going
for her.
'She would have gone on bringing joy to others. But you brought
an end to that. Why did you do this appalling thing? You are yourself
an intelligent young man.
'The realisation of the ending of the relationship precipitated your prolonged violence. I impose on you a sentence of life.'
An inquest into Miss Devey Waterhouse's death has been opened and adjourned pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
Culled from Dailymail
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