Spalding murders: Inspector hopes community can recover after ‘cold, ruthless’ killings

A police inspector investigating the brutal double murder of Spalding mum Elizabeth Edwards and her 13-year-old daughter Katie has said he hopes the town can move forward after the pair were jailed for a minimum of 20 years.

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Holvey described the case as “rare and unprecedented”, in the minutes following the sentence at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday, November 10.

The couple are believed to be Britain’s youngest double murderers and have been likened to the infamous American criminals Bonnie and Clyde for their savage attack at a house on Dawson Avenue in April this year.

DCI Holvey said: “This has been a rare and unprecedented case and everybody who has listened to the details as they have emerged throughout the trial will, I am sure, have felt the same sense of shock and disbelief.

The planning that went into the brutal murders of Elizabeth and Katie as they slept in their beds was cold, ruthless and chilling, as was the lack of remorse shown by the two juveniles afterwards.

“This matter-of-factness is all the more shocking given the fact that they were both only 14 years of age at the time.

“I hope after today’s sentence, everyone affected by this terrible crime can begin to rebuild their lives and the community of Spalding can move forward.”

Elizabeth Edwards and her daughter Katie were murdered by two teenagers at their home in Spalding

Distressing and disturbing

Karen Thompson, deputy chief crown prosecutor at CPS East Midlands, said that it was one of the most distressing and disturbing cases her team had witnessed.

She added: “The CPS has from the outset been confident that the appropriate charge for both defendants was one of murder.

“We were not willing to accept any lesser charge based on the defendants’ mental health difficulties, so the case was rightly taken to trial.

“The male defendant accepted his guilt on the first day of trial. The other defendant maintained her not guilty plea but, after the jury heard all the medical evidence presented they concluded that any difficulties that she may have had did not prevent her forming an intent to kill. She was therefore convicted of the murder of both victims.

“Our deepest sympathies are now with the extended family and friends of Elizabeth and Katie Edwards as they attempt to come to terms with this horrific crime.”

Take a look back at how the trial unfolded:

• Boy, 15, pleads guilty to murder of Spalding mum and teenage daughter
• Teens ‘stabbed Spalding mum and daughter through throat’ after planning murder at McDonald’s
• “Ten minutes for each one”: Girl’s chilling account of murder of Spalding mum and daughter
• “I felt like murdering for quite a while”, girl tells officers after Spalding killings
• Jury hears boy and girl had sex after grotesque Spalding killings
• Teen wrote defiant suicide note before Spalding mum and daughter’s murder
• Girl, 15, found guilty of murdering Spalding mum and daughter
• Disturbing Spalding murders left several lives in ruins, says police inspector
• Serious case review set for double Spalding murders by teenage couple
• Boy who brutally murdered Spalding mum and daughter has ‘personality disorder’
• Britain’s youngest double murderers to be sentenced today for brutal Spalding killings
• Spalding killers jailed for minimum of 20 years for murdering dinner lady and her daughter