Holly Newton’s boyfriend says he wishes he had done more to save her
The boyfriend of Holly Newton has described the moment he fought off her attacker and tried to save her after she was attacked by her ex.
Alan Lawson, 18, was stabbed four times by Logan MacPhail after he attacked Holly in an alleyway near a pizza parlour.
MacPhail was found guilty of murder at Newcastle Crown Court last August and handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 17 years at the same court in October.
Speaking for the first time since MacPhail was sentenced, Alan said MacPhail approached Holly and attacked her while the pair were on their first date.
He said he and Holly were at a pizza shop when he heard her and MacPhail talking about returning a PlayStation console. He then went inside the takeaway to collect his food and MacPhail attacked Holly moments later.
He told The Sun: ‘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 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.’
He added: ‘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.
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‘”What else could I have done?” runs through my mind.’
During the trial the court heard that MacPhail, who was then aged 16, stalked Holly for an hour through Hexham, Northumberland, before stabbing her 36 times in an alleyway.
CCTV showed him wearing a snood and a baseball cap and ducking out of sight as MacPhail followed Holly and her friends around the town centre.
He then attacked her and Lawson, leaving Holly with fatal injuries. Alan was stabbed four times, spent five days in hospital and needed two surgeries to repair tendons.
Mr Justice Hilliard said MacPhail, who has autism and learning difficulties, did not accept that their 18-month relationship was over.
He said: ‘I am satisfied that earlier in January 2023, Holly indicated that the relationship was at an end, and you realised at this time she meant it for good.
‘You were not able to accept that, you were obsessed with Holly and your desire to resume the relationship.’
Holly’s mother, Micala Trussler, Holly and MacPhail had a typical teenage relationship at first, but her daughter came to realise he was controlling her.
Mrs Trussler believed her daughter was the victim of domestic abuse, although she was under 16 at the time, and was caused emotional turmoil by her ex-partner.
The night before the murder, MacPhail tried repeatedly to be allowed into Holly’s home and hung around for hours, trying to convince one of her siblings to open the door.
‘I dread to think what could have happened to the rest of my family had he been allowed inside,’ Mrs Trussler said.
She is now raising money in her daughter’s memory to buy trauma boxes to help save lives of people at risk of bleeding to death and also wants teenagers to learn more about identifying toxic relationships.
She said: ‘Holly is missed beyond words and can never be described and never be forgotten.’
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