Melissa Belshaw murder: Killer branded 'the Devil incarnate' by victim's distraught mother

Violent criminal Andrew Wadsworth, 37, stabbed to death Melissa Belshaw, 32, two months after he came out of prison on licence while consumed by an obsession about her sex life.

Fuelled by cocaine and alcohol, Wadsworth subjected Ms Belshaw to a prolonged attack in her bedroom with a large kitchen knife on the afternoon of May 20.

A passer-by bravely rescued Ms Belshaw’s terrified daughter by smashing into the locked house in Billinge, with a hammer.

His victim’s mother today said that Wadsworth was a “monster” who would be going to hell.

After killing his ex, Wadsworth then went out on to the street armed with the same knife and repeatedly stabbed a concerned neighbour who heard the screams coming from the property in Up Holland Road.

He then delivered a roundhouse kick to the head of a police constable at the scene where he was arrested and then later punched another officer in the face in a police cell, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Wadsworth admitted stabbing Ms Belshaw but relied on a partial defence to murder of a loss of control following what he claimed was a string of shock revelations about her sex life.

Sentencing him to life imprisonment, Mrs Justice Yip said: “At trial, you painted a very negative picture of Ms Belshaw as you set out to shift responsibility away from you and to blame her for what happened. Some of the things you claimed were demonstrably false.

“Your character assassination undoubtedly went beyond anything that was justified. You had degraded her in life and you continued to do so after her death.

“She may have made some mistakes in her life but at the time of her death she was pursuing her dream of having her own beauty salon. She was still only young and was seeking to turn her life around. Sadly, she made a fatal mistake in becoming involved with you and you took her future away.”

Wadsworth, of Cranfield Road, Hawkley Hall, was found guilty by a jury of murder and attempted murder, and pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two assaults on police officers. He was cleared of making a threat to kill against Ms Belshaw’s daughter.

The trial heard Wadsworth regularly accused Ms Belshaw in text messages from September 2019 of cheating on him, including by working as a prostitute.

The judge noted: “You claimed that you had loved her but the numerous derogatory words used in your text messages to her suggest otherwise. By contrast, you appear to have had a very high opinion of yourself. Your messages display a wholly unwarranted air of moral superiority.”

Wadsworth came out of prison on licence in November 2017 following a five-year jail sentence for two offences of robbery involving imitation firearms and a 10-year custodial term in 2011 with an extended licence of two years for aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. That incident had seen a man suffered a brain haemorrhage after being hit over the head with a hammer.

He started seeing Ms Belshaw from March 2018 but was recalled in January 2019 after a positive test for cocaine. He was then released again on licence on March 4 this year following a parole board hearing.

Wadsworth was sent to live at an approved hostel but was allowed to move to his mother’s address just a fortnight later because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mrs Justice Yip commended the bravery of van driver Kevin Moores, 40, who pulled Ms Belshaw’s daughter to safety after she courageously rang police and then helped Ms Belshaw’s neighbour Gerard Bristow, 46, break free from Wadsworth’s grasp.

She said Wadsworth had come close to killing Mr Bristow who suffered wounds to his chest and head, a partially severed right ear and a punctured lung.

A wound to his right shoulder has left him with nerve damage which has left him unable to exercise and play sport, the court heard.

In a victim personal statement, Ms Belshaw’s mother, Jean Mulvaney, said her daughter was a “beautiful soul inside and out who had a heart of gold and many friends.”

She added: “The opening of a new shop was her dream and a turning point for her life.”

After the hearing Mrs Mulvaney, who is now caring for her granddaughter, said: “I hope that one day Andrew Wadsworth will meet his maker. And I hope that he will be taken to the deepest, darkest parts of hell because he will not be going up there with her.

“He has taken my only daughter away from me, he has denied my granddaughter a mummy while Lee and Nathan are besides themselves.

“He has turned my family upside down. I cry every day.

“If I had a wish in life it would be for Melissa to be living. I would give up my own life for hers because I have had my life. She was only 32 years old. I would give my life to save her.

“It’s horrible. Wadsworth is a monster - the Devil incarnate. I have heard people say that they hate others and never really understood the depth of feeling - until now. Now I really know what hatred is.”

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