By Samantha Jones-
A violent and jealous partner who murdered his partner and mother of his children has been sentenced to a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 and a half years.
Charlie Booth, 27, of Albert Road, in Saltaire, was found guilty of murdering 26-year-old Lauren Howe, at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday.
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The judge passed a minimum term for that sentence of 15 and a half years behind bars, on Wednesday.
Booth will be eligible to be put before a parole board, who can determine whether he is suitable to leave jail or not.
If he is released, he will be on licence for the rest of his life.
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The 27-year-old killed his partner of 11 years and mother of his two children in their flat of Tennis Way, in Baildon on July 24 last year, after she spent a night out clubbing. He was high on crack cocaine at the time of the murder.
At the time of his arrest, the evil brute was also charged with threats to commit damage and malicious communications.
The jealous brute had been ringing around inquiring about her whereabouts before she returned from partying.
The jury returned after less than a day of deliberating to find Booth guilty of murder – deciding he had intended serious harm or to kill Ms Howe when inflicting a fatal blow which almost tore her liver in two.
He claimed he had punched Ms Howe in the stomach a single time “without thinking”, but the prosecution said hit her “harder than he had ever hit her before.”
Nicholas Lumley KC, for the prosecution, told the court Booth tortured Ms Howe before killing her and may have punched her, stamped on her, or even used a weapon, with a cricket bat found within the property.
Ben Campbell, Mr Lumley’s junior, said on Wednesday that Booth caused multiple injuries to his partner’s face, head, neck, hands, arms, and fatally to her abdomen.
He described the attack as a sustained assault, culminating in a “powerful final blow” and that numerous injuries were caused when Ms Howe was aware of the attack and trying to defend herself.
Judge Stubbs, on sentencing, said: “No one will ever know exactly what happened between her return and you carrying out her lifeless body.”
He added: “Your account was rejected by the jury and given the photos of the damage to the flat and the removal of items of clothing and the devastating injury described by the pathologist, I can be sure you subjected her to a prolonged attack in various parts of the flat, I can be sure she did her best to defend herself.
“I can be sure you overpowered her before delivering somehow the blow that killed her with force the pathologist would usually see in a road traffic accident or fall from great height.
“You subjected her to extreme violence, a woman in her own home.”
The prosecution said the motive was: “Extreme jealousy and paranoia in part arising from her being unfaithful to him.”
This was evidenced in Booth making two calls to the partner of Oliver Kenny – a man who was rumoured to have been seeing and sleeping with Ms Howe for a year.
The rumour was deemed to be untrue but was playing on Booth’s mind at the time of the killing, according to the prosecution.
Judge Stubbs said Booth’s use of alcohol and crack cocaine on July 23 brought this to the fore.
He added: “The effect it was having the night before was the groundless rumours you’d heard about Lauren were preying on your mind.”
In mitigation, Ms Hussain said Booth had never caused Ms Howe really serious injuries before and suggested it was rooted in aspects of his behaviour in the past.
She also mentioned the evidence Booth gave about him being raped at knifepoint by a convicted murderer out on licence when he was 10.
Ms Hussain said: “None of this provides justification for his actions but it provides an insight into the difficulties.”
She added: “It’s difficult to imagine how being a victim of such a crime at age 10 would not have drastic consequences.”
Judge Stubbs accepted this had scarred Booth but turning to drink and drugs made his possessive nature and jealousy worse.
Ms Howe walked home from a family party at around 6.30am on July 24, taking two hours to return to the flat she shared with Booth.
Booth had made calls to various people, on the couple’s shared phone, across the night, including making threats to Leigha Howe – Ms Howe’s younger sister – and Darren Howe – her dad.
Judge Stubbs said: “You were building yourself up into an uncontrollable rage.
“It’s obvious in her absence you became increasingly angry, you made countless efforts to contact her, you wanted her to return, she didn’t.”
He added: “When she came home the next morning your efforts to locate her started again, so I’m satisfied, I’m sure you were waiting for her to come back and you were angry she defied you the night before.”
Within an hour of Ms Howe’s return, her “blue”, “grey” and “lifeless” body was being carried along the block of flats by Booth to outside a neighbour’s property.
She died at the scene and her death later certified at hospital.
She is survived by two young children.
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