Lyndsey Vaux murder trial: Woman beat her girlfriend to death after 'years of horrific domestic abuse'

'Some neighbours knew about this abuse and did nothing,' police say

A “bullying” murderer who repeatedly beat her partner over a number of years has been jailed for life.

​Lyndsey Vaux, 30, was left “looking like the elephant man" by Becky Reid, 32, who regularly kicked and punched her, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The mother-of-one died last May after suffering 90 separate injuries during years of abuse by Reid, who was found guilty of her murder. She was also convicted of grievous bodily harm on another previous partner at the six-week trial.

Sentenced to life, she will have to serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars.

Jurors heard that on one occasion Reid kicked Ms Vaux hard in the face for putting salad on her burger.

She would often send Vaux out in the rain to beg for money. She would use it on scratchcards and “smoke and cans” to feed her own alcohol and cannabis habits.

She would beat her partner if she deemed that she had not returned to their home in Atherton, with enough money.

Jurors heard police were called numerous times but Vaux would make excuses for her injuries and refused to co-operate.

Investigators said a number of attacks took place outside in full view of the couple’s neighbours, who saw Vaux carrying a number of injuries including black eyes, a cut lip, bruising and a heavy limp.

Police said some of them “did nothing” to help. CCTV footage released of Vaux in a shop shows her with a gaunt, sunken face and visible injuries.

Murderer Becky Reid, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years (Greater Manchester Police)

Experts concluded she die not die from a single fatal injury but from the combined effects of multiple injuries over several months.

She had a lot of friends in Stockport before she began a relationship with Reid in 2009, the court heard. But after she moved to the Wigan area to be with Reid, she lost contact with her daughter.

Bob Tonge, of Greater Manchester Police’s major incident support unit, said: “Lyndsey Vaux was subjected to years of horrific domestic abuse at the hands of her girlfriend, and no decision made here today can bring her back.

“Some neighbours knew about this abuse and did nothing. Had they given us the information that they gave us after Lyndsey’s murder then we could have saved her life, and this should act as a stark reminder that we all have a responsibility to stand up to this kind of crime.

“We’re working extremely hard to tackle domestic abuse in the LGBT community, having introduced a specific recording method to track it and taking our front line officers through training on how best to support victims, but we do need the public’s help to continue to tackle domestic abuse in all of our communities.”

Reid had denied using any violence against Vaux.

Reid's mother, Gillian Reid, 57, was also handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, after she was found guilty of assault on her daughter's previous partner.

Additional reporting by agencies