Melissa Belshaw murder trial: Killer Andrew Wadsworth jailed for life

Violent criminal Andrew Wadsworth, 37, stabbed to death Melissa Belshaw, 32, two months after he came out of prison on licence and 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, Wigan, with a hammer.

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 Upholland 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 on a loss of control following what he claimed was a string of shock revelations about her sex life.

Sentencing him on Thursday 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, Wigan, 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.

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."

Following sentencing, her family said: "The trial has been an extremely traumatic experience as we’ve had to sit through every detail of how Melissa was killed. The defence continually tried to destroy her memory and showed a total lack of sympathy or sensitivity towards the family and the loss we have suffered."

Related: 'My granddaughter saw her mummy dying' - Melissa's mum recalls horrific events