Teenager raped and murdered school friend after she invited him back to her flat because he was ‘too drunk to go home’

Joseph Trevor, 19, admits strangling and stabbing 18-year-old Megan Newton in Stoke-on-Trent

Peter Stubley
Monday 17 February 2020 17:28 GMT
Teenager raped and murdered school friend after she invited him back to her flat

A teenager who raped and murdered a woman who offered him a place to sleep as an “act of kindness” has been jailed for life.

Joseph Trevor, 19, strangled and stabbed 18-year-old football coach Megan Newton to death at her bedsit in Stoke-on-Trent on 20 April last year.

He was so intoxicated after consuming drink and drugs that he could not face going back to his parents’ home, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Trevor sat yards from Ms Newton’s family as he pleaded guilty to murder and two counts of rape on the first day of his trial at Stafford Crown Court on Monday.

Judge Michael Chambers QC told him: “This was a brutal and sustained attack, conducted in the most callous way in her own home.

“The attack on her was driven and motivated by your serious sexual conduct.

“In any view, she tragically must have suffered, and suffered greatly and suffered for some significant time. This was an appalling offence.”

Ms Newton, who described herself as a “sports fanatic”, had been working towards her level one FA coaching badge and hoped to win a scholarship in the US.

Her father Michael Baggeley, in an impact statement to the court, described her as “an amazing, caring, kind, loving, funny young lady”.

He added: “This is something I will never understand and get over.”

The court heard Ms Newton had gone to the Kiln nightclub in Newcastle-under-Lyme after finishing her shift at a fish-and-chip shop.

Megan Newton at her 18th birthday party

She met Trevor by chance at a taxi rank at around 3.30am.

“They knew each other from school, they were acquaintances,” said prosecutor Adrian Keeling QC.

“He was telling his friends he did not want to go home due to the intoxicated state he had got himself into. His parents would be mad.

“It was Megan Newton who offered him a bed for the night. It was a typical act of kindness, but one that would cost her her life.

“There was no sense of offering him anything sexual at all.”

They arrived at her bedsit in Fletcher Road at around 4am and Trevor sent a series of text messages to his father. He then raped Ms Newton, strangled her and stabbed her nine times in the neck and back.

After leaving the flat, Trevor was spotted by police sitting at a bridge over the A500 in Stoke.

Ms Newton’s body was discovered by horrified staff members at the housing complex property later that day.

Trevor, formerly of Danebower Road, Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent, was told he would serve at least 21 years and 65 days in prison before being considered for parole.

Detective Inspector Cheryl Hannan, said: “Trevor carried out a sustained and violent assault on Megan. She had kindly offered him a place to stay overnight because he had taken drugs and had been stopped by police and was worried about returning home.

“In return he attacked and killed her and left her lying in her own bed while he let himself out and told no-one what he had done.

“Megan was a young and gifted teenager who through hard work and dedication had achieved so much with opportunities to achieve so much more.”

Additional reporting by Press Association

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