Judge's heartbreaking 12 words as he jailed stalker Logan MacPhail for murdering Holly Newton

A judge had a heartbreaking 12-word message as he jailed an obsessed schoolboy who stalked his 15-year-old ex-girlfriend then attack for 17 years.

Trial judge Mr Justice Hilliard today ruled that Logan MacPhail, now aged 17, had not gone out with the intention to murder Holly Newton on the day of the attack. Holly, 15, had complained about MacPhail 'stalking' her just hours before he secretly followed her around a quiet market town then repeatedly stabbed her in an alleyway around 5pm on Jan 27 last year.

And passing sentence he sadly summed up: '"What happened to Holly should not happen to any child or parent."

The killer, then aged 16, , his face covered with a scarf, speaking to Holly at a bus stop just minutes before he took her life. He was captured on street cameras every step of the way as he watched her and her friends at a distance.

Ruling that he be detained at His Majesty's Pleasure due to his age at the time of the offence, Mr Justice Hillier said that the minimum term before he would be considered for parole was 17 years. .

He said: "The stark facts are that you made the decision to stab a 15-year-old to death with a knife you were carrying unlawfully in a public place, having followed her secretly around town for an hour because your relationship had ended and you were jealous of the fact that she might see someone else."

Wearing a black puffa jacket, black cap, tracksuit bottoms and trainers, MacPhail was captured on CCTV as he carried the 6in knife in the bag on his back on the day of the murder.

He boarded a bus from his hometown of Gateshead at 1.41pm and is seen looking around as he gets off the No 10 from the MetroCentre at Hexham bus station at 3.13pm.

He waited around outside Holly's school to see her leaving with a boy at 3.30pm. He then followed her for around an hour, being careful not to be seen, before he found her alone at a bus stop, his face covered with a scarf, asking to speak to her in an alleyway. Seconds later her screams were heard . He told police he had been carrying the weapon for a week.

One blow fatally penetrated her back, entering her chest and lung, as she screamed, alerting horrified passers by. He also slashed the throat of a 16-year-old boy who tried to save her, narrowly missing an artery in his neck. MacPhail had spotted Holly, who had recently ended their 18-month relationship, as she left Hexham's Queen Elizabeth High School at 3.30pm.

Holly's mum Micala Trussler told how her daughter had "begged" her to let her go into town on the day she died. She agreed, rather than asking her to come home to see officers about MacPhail. The meeting was instead rescheduled for later that evening.

"In the end, the biggest mistake of my life," she said. "He has ruined our lives and he took Holly's." MacPhail, who has autism and difficulty reading and writing, was arrested at the scene.

Video of his police interviews was played at a hearing where a judge had to rule if he was mentally fit to enter a plea in his trial. He was found guilty of murder and wounding with intent to cause serious harm to the boy of 16, who cannot be named. Holly, a "much-loved, talented" schoolgirl, was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the attack despite the best efforts of medics to save her.

Queen Elizabeth High School described her as a "truly lovely student" who was "quiet, conscientious, helpful and kind".