I held Holly Newton’s killer in headlock & was knifed 4 times… I regret not being able to save her, says hero boyfriend
THE hero boyfriend of schoolgirl Holly Newton who was murdered by her jealous ex has told for the first time of his torment and revealed: “I blame myself.”
Alan Lawson, 18, was knifed four times as he tried to stop crazed Logan MacPhail stabbing Holly, 15, to death in an alleyway beside a pizza parlour.
Opening up about the horror, brave Alan, who grappled with the monster before racing to get help, said: “I was devastated. I wasn’t thinking about myself, I was thinking about Holly and her family.
“I have no thoughts for him. I am disgusted. I never thought anyone could do that to another person. I do blame myself a bit. I regret I couldn’t have done more.
“ ‘What else could I have done?’ runs through my mind.”
MacPhail was 16 when he inflicted 36 injuries — including 12 stab wounds — on Holly as she enjoyed a first date with Alan in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023.
‘Deafening scream’
The killer, from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for the equivalent of life last November and ordered to serve at least 17 years behind bars.
Alan — who was praised by the trial judge for his attempts to save Holly — had been exchanging messages with the youngster on Instagram in the lead-up to the horror.
The pair, who attended the same school, met up for their first date on the night she died.
Recalling how their relationship had developed, Alan said: “Holly was gentle. She was nice and caring. It was just the way she talked.
“I was a bit too shy to make the first move, so at one stage she said, ‘Are you going to ask me out?’.
“And I was like, ‘No, you ask me out’. I did end up asking her out.
“I’d seen her, but we hadn’t really met up until that night.”
The pair had arranged to meet outside their school and planned to walk into the town centre.
Alan was unaware that Holly, who had ambitions to become a dance teacher, was battling to cope with the fallout from the end of her 18-month relationship with MacPhail, who she had met at Army Cadets in nearby Consett, Co Durham.
They had split a number of times in the past, but shortly before her date with Alan, Holly had decided to end the relationship permanently.
However, jealous MacPhail refused to accept it was over and began stalking Holly.
He took a knife from his kitchen and kept it with him for days as he hung around her house late at night.
I wasn’t worried about myself. I could tell that I was going to be okay, so I was thinking of Holly and hoping she would be okay
Alan Lawson
Chilling CCTV footage played at his trial showed him wearing a dark cap, dressed all in black, and with his face covered as he followed unsuspecting Holly and Alan for an hour.
Alan did not know MacPhail, but was aware that he had been asking Holly for his PlayStation console back.
Describing the afternoon of the murder, he said: “She was more irritated than worried about him.
“We had been chatting about school as we walked along, trying to get to know each other a bit because it’s different talking in person than messaging.
“After a couple of hours, we were at the pizza shop. I went in to get a doner wrap and Holly stayed outside. I went out and he was there. I didn’t know him, but I overheard mention of a PlayStation so I knew it was him.
“I told him that I could arrange to drop it off for him and went back inside to get my wrap.
‘I wake up shaking’
“I had no fear of anything happening. He wasn’t being aggressive or intimidating. But then I heard this deafening scream as she shouted, ‘Logan get off’. I ran outside, went down the alleyway and saw him on top of her.
“It looked like he was hitting her. I shouted at him to get off and grabbed him in a headlock.
“I got stabbed as well, but that wasn’t my main priority. It was pitch black in the alleyway. Holly was on the ground and he was standing over her.
“I didn’t see a knife or any blood because it was so dark. I reacted because of the way I was brought up — never let a man touch a woman. I was able to get him off her and got stabbed as I did. I didn’t realise it at the time, it just felt like a jab to the neck.”
Recalling the moment he managed to pull MacPhail away from Holly, Alan added: “I slung him as far as I could down the alley then I looked down, saw blood and thought, ‘I’ve been stabbed, she’s been stabbed’ and I got help.”
Passers-by leapt in to detain MacPhail, now 18, at a bus stop outside the pizza shop. Police and paramedics raced to the scene and Alan and Holly were taken to hospital in separate ambulances.
Alan said: “I wasn’t worried about myself. I could tell that I was going to be OK, so I was thinking of Holly and hoping she would be OK.
“But I feared the worst, like everyone would. The worst things were running through my mind.
“Shortly after I got to hospital, I was informed that Holly had died.”
Devastated Alan, who had been stabbed four times, spent five days in hospital and needed two surgeries to repair tendons.
He has mostly recovered physically, but remains traumatised by the attack.
He said: “Mentally, it has been bad. I struggle to sleep and have nightmares. I see Holly lying on the floor and then I wake up sweating and shaking.”
Mentally, it has been bad. I struggle to sleep and have nightmares. I see Holly lying on the floor and then I wake up sweating and shaking
Alan Lawson
During the case at Newcastle Crown Court, Holly’s mum Micala Trussler thanked Alan for his courageous efforts to save her daughter.
In her victim impact statement, she said: “As a family, we would like to thank Alan for intervening and trying to help Holly as best he could.”
The trial judge also praised the young man’s “remarkable bravery”.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Hilliard told MacPhail that Alan “heard Holly screaming and saying to you to stop and get off her.
“He saw you on top of Holly and striking her. He took hold of you as you were swinging at him with the knife.
“You inflicted four stab injuries. One was to his thigh, the others were to his neck and shoulder.
He showed remarkable bravery on the day
Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard
“Nonetheless, he managed to throw you off Holly and he went to get help.”
After Alan read his own victim impact statement in court, the judge added: “He showed remarkable bravery on the day.
“Unsurprisingly, there have been psychological impacts. He struggles with his mental health, he has trouble sleeping and nightmares.”
MacPhail was “detained at His Majesty’s pleasure” for the equivalent of an adult’s life sentence, with a minimum term of 17 years.
He was also ordered to serve five years behind bars, concurrently, for wounding Alan with intent.