A postman who brutally attacked and killed a mother of three with a dumbbell, then concealed her body in his bedroom for over a week, has been sentenced to prison.
Emily Sanderson, aged 48, had attempted to call a taxi from Mark Nicholls’ residence in May of this year when the attack occurred. Nicholls, aged 43, assaulted her, striking her head 13 times with the heavy dumbbell.
After the murder, he stripped her body and bound her with packaging tape, hiding her lifeless remains in his bedroom. Emily was reported missing on May 25, and South Yorkshire Police discovered her lifeless body 11 days later in Nicholls’ residence. In September, Nicholls pleaded guilty to murder and was handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of 17-and-a-half years, at Sheffield Crown Court.
According to prosecutor Sam Green, Emily had occasionally worked as an escort and had previously visited Nicholls. However, the attack took place after he consumed alcohol and crack cocaine.
The early moments of this tragic incident were captured on a phone call to City Taxis and played in court. During the call, Emily requested a taxi, but the conversation was interrupted by "muffling," "disturbance," and screams.
The prosecutor stated, "Shortly after that call her phone stopped being active...We now know - not least from his own admission - that at around this time, nearly towards the end of her call to the taxi company, he bludgeoned her to death with a dumbbell." A post-mortem examination revealed that she had suffered at least 13 blows to her head, resulting in 13 separate lacerations. She sustained extensive skull fractures, and her cause of death was attributed to blunt force head injuries.
In a victim impact statement, Emily's mother, Christine, expressed that her family would forever be haunted by her daughter's murder. She described Emily as "an incredible person" and said, "She was the heart of our family, and the heart has been ripped out."
The court was informed that on May 23, Nicholls spoke to a neighbor who observed him digging a hole in his garden. He told the neighbor he had found a buyer for his house and was digging to fill a pond while temporarily residing with friends. Two days later, he was captured on CCTV at an Asda store purchasing parcel tape.
Mr. Green informed the court that on May 30, Nicholls met with his parents and admitted, "He said he had been drugged, threatened, and attacked with a knife and he had hit her with a dumbbell and knocked her out." His parents took him to the police station so he could turn himself in. While being evaluated by a nurse before his transfer to HMP Marshgate, Nicholls confessed to having "killed a lady and had done so by bashing her around the head with a dumbbell."
In his mitigation, Jamie Hill KC acknowledged the irreparable harm caused by Nicholls' actions. He noted that Nicholls accepted that his perception of the incident had been severely distorted, not only by alcohol but also by crack cocaine. However, he admitted that Emily had not attacked him and had not threatened him with a knife.
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