Martial arts enthusiast guilty of killing partner and holding friend captive

Jason Bell, 42, attacked Nicole Hurley, 37, with at least two knives at their home in Primrose Hill, north-west London, in October 2021.

Martial artist enthusiast Jason Bell has been found guilty of stabbing his partner to death (Metropolitan Police/PA)

A martial artist enthusiast has been found guilty of stabbing his partner to death before holding a friend captive and driving through a police cordon.

Jason Bell, 42, attacked 37-year-old Nicole Hurley with at least two knives at their home in Primrose Hill, north-west London, in the early hours of October 10 2021.

Afterwards, Bell turned up the house of a friend with a large army-style knife, accused him of sleeping with Ms Hurley, and used his van to drive through a police tape before checking himself into a mental health centre.

A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for three hours and 42 minutes to find him guilty of murder, dangerous driving and false imprisonment.

Previously, prosecutor Michelle Nelson KC had said the couple had been in a “difficult and volatile” relationship since Ms Hurley was in her teens.

It was an attack that appears to have come in three or four parts and one in which Nicole Hurley sustained multiple stab wounds, the result of the use of more than one knife

Prosecutor Michelle Nelson KC

The violence in their relationship was “hidden from outside gaze” with the “rule” that what happened inside the home stayed there, Ms Nelson said.

Behind closed doors their relationship was said to be “toxic” and Bell, who trained at a club in martial arts, would “explode” and punch and kick Ms Hurley.

A few days before her death, Ms Hurley had left the family home only to return again, the court heard.

Ms Nelson told jurors the “fast-moving and very frightening” incident was witnessed by two young people in the house.

She said: “It was an attack that appears to have come in three or four parts and one in which Nicole Hurley sustained multiple stab wounds, the result of the use of more than one knife.”

During the onslaught, Ms Hurley was heard to say: “J, what are you doing?” and: “J, stop”, the court heard.

The defendant said: “She’s done too much to me over the years. I cannot take it any more. It’s driving me insane. I cannot come back. I’m not coming back from this.”

Ms Hurley had repeatedly asked for an ambulance to be called because she could not breathe but Bell had taken all the mobile phones before leaving the house.

Neighbours were alerted and emergency services found Ms Hurley with injuries to her neck and chest. She was pronounced dead at 1.46am.

Bell had stashed a rucksack containing six phones and a bloody knife in a garden in Victoria Mews, Maida Vale, near the home of his longstanding friend Jeremy Drewitt.

Bell then turned up at Mr Drewitt’s home wearing a blood-stained dressing gown.

He told Mr Drewitt that he had stabbed Ms Hurley and claimed he would hand himself in.

He demanded to know if his friend had slept with Ms Hurley, saying if he was not truthful it was going to end badly before producing a foot-long knife.

Ms Nelson said: “Mr Drewitt pushed the defendant away when he got close and tried to get out of the flat. He was frightened that he was going to be stabbed.

“The defendant was a big man, he estimates 19 stone, and Jeremy Drewitt knew he had martial arts training. The defendant pushed Mr Drewitt to the floor where he cut his hip on a vase that smashed.”

Later, Bell demanded Mr Drewitt hand over the keys to his van and he drove through police cordon tape.

A police officer saw him approaching and shouted at him to “stop”, but the vehicle kept going and she was forced to move behind a police car.

Bell eventually slowed down in traffic, giving Mr Drewitt the opportunity to undo his seatbelt and jump out of the moving vehicle then make his way back to the cordon.

Rather than handing himself in, Bell walked into a mental health assessment centre in St Pancras and asked to be sectioned.

Armed police went to arrest Bell at the centre and the defendant was Tasered before being taken into custody.

While in custody, Bell claimed Ms Hurley had told him she was having a baby and that he was not the father – although jurors were told she was not pregnant at the time of her death.

In a police interview, he also claimed Mr Drewitt had given him permission to stay and use his van.

On the incident at the police cordon, he said: “I did drive the car, not fast, a speed that if she (the officer) didn’t move, I could avoid her. I did not wish to harm her. I panicked.”

This was a frenzied, brutal attack on a defenceless woman while four children were in the home, two of whom witnessed the murder

Det Ch Insp Jim Eastwood

Bell denied murder but declined to give evidence in his defence or come in court in person, preferring to appear by video link from Pentonville prison.

Following the verdict, Judge Alexia Durran told jurors that psychiatrists had been asked to compile reports on Bell before the trial but he had not co-operated, with one expert forming an impression he had traits of a paranoid personality.

Bell sat with his head bowed throughout and Judge Durran adjourned sentencing until October 12.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Eastwood, said: “This was a frenzied, brutal attack on a defenceless woman while four children were in the home, two of whom witnessed the murder.

“Nicole suffered a range of serious injuries including some to her forearms indicting that she tried to shield herself from the blows that Bell inflicted; at least two knives were used during this senseless attack.”