Postman sentenced to 23 years for brutal murder of girlfriend

An 'evil' postman who moaned about being lonely hours before he severed his girlfriend's head and tried to dismember her body has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years. Ewan Methven murdered Phoenix Spencer-Horn, 21, in the flat they shared in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, last November. The High Court in Glasgow heard the killer dumped his partner's body parts in their hallway and failed to call emergency services for two days.

The 27-year-old then bought drugs, watched pornography and sent sickening texts to Phoenix's worried mum pretending she was still alive. Phoenix was stabbed 20 times - including 10 times in the face - using three knives in an attack that unfolded after she returned from her waitressing job in Lanarkshire. Methven received a life sentence with at least 23 years behind bars when he retuned to the dock on Monday.

Lord Matthews described it as a 'dreadful crime'. The judge added: 'You were a trusted member of her family, but you betrayed that trust and robbed her of life in the cruellest way. Not content with what you had done to her, you robbed her of all dignity in death by decapitating her and trying to dismember her in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.'

Sky News has interviewed the couple's neighbour who lives directly next door. Toni Brown, 25, described the horror of discovering what happened. She said: 'I think I stayed out of the house for about a week after that. I couldn't even sit. It was horrific. It's horrific. It gives me shivers thinking about it. It is crazy to think I stayed next door to a monster like that.'

Methven's own defence lawyer told the court society will see him as the 'personification of evil'. Another life lost to gender-based violence. Fiona Drouet's daughter Emily was 18 years old when she took her own life at university in Aberdeen in 2016, days after being choked and slapped by her ex-boyfriend. Reacting to the death of Phoenix Spencer-Horn, Ms Drouet told Sky News: 'There is another mother and father that have just been plunged into utter hell.'

If you suspect you are being abused and need to speak to someone, there are people who can help you, including The National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or Women's Aid online.

According to the source: Sky News.