'Obsessively jealous' ex-cop who brutally stabbed pregnant girlfriend to death jailed for 28 years

Leeds: A former probationary policeman who killed his pregnant girlfriend by pushing a broken glass in her face and then stabbing her was jailed for a minimum of 28 years.

Jonathan Sutton, 40, exploded in rage after Emma Siswick, 37, told him their relationship was over when he challenged her about an innocent phone message, stabbing her 81 times.

Sutton also stabbed two boys, aged nine and 11, in an attack that was described as 'little short of torture'.

The defendant pleaded guilty to Ms Siswick's murder and the grievous bodily harm of the two boys at Leeds Crown Court today.

The court heard that Sutton initially attacked his partner with a glass after discovering a text message on her phone and deciding that she was being unfaithful to him. He then stabbed her with a knife before attacking the boys.

Three rooms of the house on Reinwood Road, Huddersfield, were left covered in blood.

Mr Justice Edis told Sutton: "You have committed three offences which are as serious as it's possible to imagine."

The judge continued: "Looking at the photographs of the house where all this happened ... is a truly horrific experience. There are three different sites in that property where very serious assaults with knives were carried out. There's blood everywhere.

"You inflicted 81 separate cut injuries to Emma. She fought you to try to save herself."

Mr Justice Edis said Ms Siswick, 37, was pregnant at the time of her murder but the couple, who had been together just over three years, had discussed terminating the pregnancy.

He said there had been no previous assaults in the relationship, despite frequent arguments.

The murder happened after Sutton discovered a 'harmless' text message and decided Ms Siswick was being unfaithful to him, which she was not.

He said: "Exactly what you intended to do to them may never really be known. What you certainly did was to inflict painful, if not life-threatening, injuries. If that's what you intended to do it was little short of torture."

"You have left them with physical scars which they will see every day of their lives to remind them of what happened that day. We can only speculate about the mental scars which you have left with them as well."

Sutton received concurrent life sentences for each of the three counts he admitted. He was told he would serve a minimum of eight years for the two charges of wounding with intent and a minimum of 28 years for Ms Siswick's murder.

A spokesperson for Ms Siswick's family thanked 'all her family and friends for their unwavering support throughout this devastating time'.