Carpet fitter who murdered ex and dumped body in lay-by jailed for 17 years
A man who murdered his ex-girlfriend and ‘callously dumped’ her body by the side of the road has been sentenced.
Darren Hall attacked Sarah Henshaw at her home in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, on June 20 before dumping her body near a lay-by.
He then lied to her friends and family, telling them the 31-year-old had gone missing, before her body was found six days later.
In that time Hall, 36, had thrown away her belongings including her dressing gown and slippers.
Hall denied murdering Sarah but he was found guilty on Friday after a trial at Derby crown court.
This morning he was sentenced to at least 17 years in prison.
During sentencing, Mr Justice Goss said: ‘Sarah Henshaw was 31 years of age. She was a loud, outgoing and fun-loving person with an infectious laugh.
‘The harm you have done and the suffering you have caused can never be undone by any sentence of this court.
‘Having heard all the evidence, I am satisfied that there were earlier occasions in your relationship where you were violent to Sarah Henshaw and bruised her.
‘Whatever arose that caused you to be violent in the bedroom, you attacked her and, although it could not be established by pathological evidence, you almost certainly strangled her.
‘You then set about hastily doing what you could to prevent your crime being discovered.
‘Consequently, you made mistakes which enabled careful detective work to reveal what you had done.
‘I can’t accept that you have genuine remorse for killing her, as you still protest you did nothing to hurt her.
‘I accept that there was no pre-meditation and you had no intention to kill, but you clearly ignored her screams and used sufficient force to cause her death.’
Hall and Sarah met in 2011 but they had a turbulent relationship and the couple had split up before her death.
He let himself into Sarah’s house on the day of the murder, even though she’d previously asked him to give the key back and repeatedly asked him to leave that day.
Hall claimed Sarah fell down the stairs and died during an argument and said he moved her body and lied to her friends, family and the police.
He said he lied as he was ‘not thinking right’ – but jurors saw through that and convicted him of murder after deliberating for just three hours.
Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said that while they could not be certain how Sarah died, it was ‘at the hands of this defendant’, with bruising on her neck ‘about the width of a dressing gown cord’.
Ms Heeley said Hall took ‘calculated and controlled’ actions to ‘cover his tracks’, including dumping her belongings at a recycling centre and in a skip before his arrest on June 23.
Hall appeared for his sentencing via video link from HMP Nottingham and visibly trembled throughout the hearing.
Sarah’s family, who packed the public gallery throughout the trial, described her as ‘bubbly and mischievous’.
Kelsie Henshaw, Sarah’s sister, described Hall as a ‘cruel, selfish man’ and said her sister’s death meant ‘the biggest piece of us is missing’.
She also said her family visited a medium following her death, who said that ‘Sarah would not be at peace until justice was done’.
She said: ‘Sarah was really caring and would do anything to help anyone.
‘We have nightmares about Darren Hall and how he murdered our lovely sister and the evil way he just dumped her body.
‘Our hearts are broken forever. We will always carry Sarah forward in our lives.’
Her mother, Lorraine Henshaw, said Hall was a ‘monster’ who disposed of Sarah’s body like a ‘piece of rubbish’.
She said: ‘All Sarah ever wanted was stability and to settle down with a partner who loved her.
‘To me, he (Darren Hall) is a monster who committed the most evil crime a person can do.’
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