Man, 25, jailed for murder of ex-partner’s mother after end of relationship

A man who stabbed his ex-partner’s mother to death after she supported her daughter’s decision to end their abusive relationship has been handed a life prison sentence with a minimum term of 25 years and six months.

Jacob Clark, 25, hit 46-year-old Diane Cleary round the head with a brick then stabbed her with two knives and a pair of scissors as her daughter Caitlin Cleary, then aged 25, desperately tried to protect her mother.

Simon Wilshire KC, prosecuting, said the “frenzied” attack happened at the flat Clark and his ex-partner had shared in Luton, Bedfordshire on January 20 this year.

He told Luton Crown Court that Diane Cleary sustained 37 stab wounds and a knife broke during the attack.

He said Caitlin Cleary, who has two young children with Clark and had met him when they were both aged 12, had ended her relationship with him on January 16.

He said this was “in consequence of Mr Clark’s abusive relationship with her”.

Mr Wilshire said Caitlin had gone to stay with her mother but returned with her to the flat on January 20.

The prosecutor said Caitlin had “told Mr Clark repeatedly that he must leave their address by January 20”.

But Clark was asleep at the address when the mother and daughter arrived that day, Mr Wilshire said, with Clark leaving the property but returning later that morning and attacking Diane.

“The murderous attack on Diane Cleary was in consequence of Mr Clark becoming angry that Diane was supportive of Caitlin deciding to end the relationship and making Mr Clark leave (the flat),” he said.

The prosecutor said Caitlin believed that her mother had stepped outside for a cigarette when she heard sound on the stairs leading to the front door.

“She (Caitlin) jumped out of bed and went to the hallway, she saw Mr Clark standing outside the front door,” said Mr Wilshire.

“He had a red or beige brick in his hand and was hitting her mother in the head and face area multiple times.”

He said Clark was “saying it was her mother and Caitlin’s fault, and why were they making him do this”.

“Caitlin screamed for people nearby to call police and was able to get the brick out of his hand at that stage,” said Mr Wilshire.

“Disarmed of the brick, he went inside to the kitchen area.

“He returned with either a pair of scissors or a knife and went towards her mother again.”

He said Caitlin “begged her mum to run but she wouldn’t”.

The prosecutor said Caitlin “covered her mother to protect her” but Clark “started to stab (Diane) in areas that weren’t being covered by Caitlin”.

He said that “it appears from the forensic examination it’s two knives and a pair of scissors at the very least”.

Mr Wilshire said that Clark then “told Caitlin to cut his hair” to change his appearance.

“She used the same orange-handled scissors he used to stab her mother to cut his long hair in the hallway,” the prosecutor said.

“He looked in the mirror and commented it looked quite nice, then he washed his hands.”

He said police were called at 11.44am, and Clark was seen at Luton Parkway train station at 12.15pm where it is believed he abandoned his bike before boarding a train to Bedford, arriving at 12.52pm.

He was arrested two days later, on January 22, when he returned to the scene of the crime.

Mr Wilshire said that Clark “would spit at” Caitlin during their relationship, had pushed food in her face, would throw things at her and tipped water over her head.

He said Clark would demand Caitlin wash his work uniforms and would “verbally abuse her” if she did not.

He said that Clark threatened to take his own life in messages to Caitlin, and Mr Wilshire suggested this showed the “manipulative way (Clark) would deal with Caitlin’s attempts at getting him to leave”.

Caitlin Cleary wiped tears from her eyes as she read her victim impact statement in court.

She said: “I feel lost without my mum.

“She was the main person in my life, and Jacob took her away from me.”

She said that her mum “made me a stronger person and if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have had the courage to leave”.

She continued: “As Jacob was stabbing my mum I tried to stop it, I tried so hard, I put my body on top of my mum and said ‘Jacob stop’, but he carried on.

“And even when he broke the knife he didn’t stop, he just got another one and carried on.”

Clark admitted at an earlier hearing to the murder of Diane Cleary and the unlawful wounding of Caitlin Cleary.

On Friday, Judge Michael Simon handed Clark a life prison sentence and set the minimum term as 25 years and six months, which he must serve before he can be considered for release.

He said Diane Cleary was “brutally murdered on the threshold of the flat her daughter Caitlin had shared with you Jacob, for four-and-a-half years”.

“You had managed to get your own way up until mid-January in ensuring your relationship with Caitlin endured,” he said.

“A relationship that had been toxic for some time and in which there were many instances of abusive and violent behaviour.

“What now stood in your way, or rather who, was Diane Cleary and her resolve to end it and have you move out of the flat.”

He said Caitlin, in her “brave and selfless attempt to save her mother’s life”, was also injured.

“The scissors then featured in a bizarre demand that in an understandable state of shock and fear she (Caitlin) complied with,” he said.

Katrina Charles, mitigating, said Clark had “pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity”.

She said he had a “dysfunctional upbringing” and had been diagnosed as having emotionally unstable personality disorder.