Lucy McHugh trial: Careworker Stephen Nicholson jailed for life over 'brutal' murder of schoolgirl

Jailed: Stephen Nicholson
PA
Ella Wills19 July 2019
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A care worker has been jailed for life for the "brutal and ferocious" murder of 13-year-old Lucy McHugh.

Stephen Nicholson, 25, was convicted following a four-week trial at Winchester Crown Court of the murder of the schoolgirl, as well as three counts of rape when she was aged 12.

Sentencing Nicholson to life imprisonment with a minimum of 33 years, the judge, Mrs Justice May, said: "This was a pitiless attack on a child following months of sexual exploitation.

"The prosecution has described it as an execution and I am satisfied this is correct.

"The combination of his cold narcissism and hot anger dictated that she had to be put out of the way and he saw to it that this was done."

Lucy McHugh was found stabbed to death in a woodland
PA

Nicholson, who showed no emotion, was also given 17-year concurrent prison sentences for each of the rape charges.

He was also jailed for nine months to run concurrently for the offence of sexual activity with a child in relation to another girl aged 14 in 2012.

The defendant, described by police as a "predatory paedophile", lured Lucy to woodland at the outdoor Southampton Sports Centre on July 25 last year where he stabbed her 27 times in the neck and upper body.

He carried out the "premeditated" murder to silence Lucy who had threatened to reveal his year-long sexual abuse of her while living as a lodger in her family home.

Lucy had also said that she would tell her mother that Nicholson had got her pregnant although a post-mortem examination showed that she was not pregnant at the time of her death.

William Mousley QC, prosecuting, told the court that Nicholson had been jailed in 2010 for two years for holding staff and youngsters at a children's home hostage at knifepoint.

The prosecutor said that Nicholson was given a further year's detention when he barricaded himself into the prison canteen at a young offender's institute with three other inmates.

He said that Nicholson "tried to stab a staff member" and explained he launched the disturbance as a form of protest against the terms of his early release.

Mr Mousley said that Nicholson was also jailed in August 2018 for 14 months for refusing to reveal his Facebook password to police investigating Lucy's murder.

A serious case review has been launched to probe the handling of Lucy's case by Southampton City Council's social services after they were alerted twice by her schools about her relationship with the defendant but decided to take no action.

The judge said: "The question is how social services could have arrived at that conclusion not once but twice given what Lucy had told friends and what Nicholson has been convicted of."

Nicholson was linked to the murder through DNA evidence from both him and Lucy found on clothing, described by prosecutors as his "murder kit", which was discarded in woodland in Tanner's Brook, about a mile from the murder scene.

He also tried to cover his tracks by inflicting wounds on Lucy that could be interpreted as self-inflicted and also posed in different clothing on CCTV at a Tesco Express store.

Detective Superintendent Paul Barton, of Hampshire Police, told PA after the trial: "I would describe Nicholson as cold and calculated, I would describe him as a paedophile and I think he is someone who only thinks about himself and has taken full advantage of this family that have looked after him, provided a roof over his head yet with his sexual appetite.

"He has targeted Lucy, taken advantage of her and when she wanted a relationship with him, he has taken the decision to silence her once and for all by brutally killing her."

James Newton-Price QC, defending, said: "It does appear the defendant, now aged 25, had a difficult background that is obvious from being sent to a children's home at the age of 13/14.

"He is, at 25, a relatively young man, he has a young son, he will have to serve a long time in custody."

Additional reporting by Press Association

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