Murderer who stabbed pregnant partner to death with pair of scissors jailed
A man who admitted to stabbing his pregnant partner to death with a pair of scissors has been sentenced to 27 years in jail.
The “exceptionally brutal” attack by Liam Taylor saw him stab 28-year-old Ailish Walsh 40 times. She had been 22 weeks pregnant but was pronounced dead after police rushed to her flat in Hackney, East London, on December 15 last year.
A friend of Ailish described her as a “beautiful, amazing young woman” who had four children already, with a fifth, a girl, on the way. At an earlier hearing, prosecutor Jane Osborne KC had said: "The attack was exceptionally brutal and carried out knowing Ms Walsh was carrying the defendant’s child. There was a 12-week scan picture and at 22 weeks it would have been fairly evident.”
Ailish was discovered, covered in blood and unconscious in her bedroom, by her own father. She had been covered with a high-visibility jacket and had Taylor’s bank cards in her pocket. The scissors were found nearby.
Police officers and forensic teams at the address in East London where the mum-of-four was killed (Tom Bowles)CCTV footage captured Taylor, 37, entering through the communal entrance to the building earlier that evening at 8.36pm and leaving at 9.14pm. Five minutes before he left, a female friend had phoned the victim and heard sounds of screaming and fighting in the background.
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She had got in contact after Ailish sent her messages to say she was trying to get Taylor out of the flat because he was taking drugs, the court heard. Taylor, who had cocaine, cannabis and alcohol in his system, was arrested at his home early the next morning.
As he was taken into custody, he told police: "It’s crazy how one moment of madness can change your whole life.” This was far from the first time Taylor had violently attacked female members of his family, the court heard. He had previously been jailed for 12 months for assaulting his own mother with a metal pole. He was also cautioned for headbutting his sister when she was just 16.
Taylor stabbed the mum 40 times before fleeing the scene (Marcin Nowak/LNP)Taylor, of East London, pleaded guilty to Ailish's murder during a hearing at the Old Bailey. Judge Alexia Durran told him: “You have pleaded guilty to the most serious offence. There can only be one sentence. The only question will be how long it will be before the parole board considers your release.”
During the trial, Taylor refused to attend proceedings early on because it would be "stressful" after he had "been up all night", it was reported. The roofer claimed he did not feel "mentally able" to come to trial, or appear via video link after some of Ailish' family travelled over from Ireland for the trial.
The Mail reported Judge Nigel Lickley, KC, said: 'I'm not going to sentence him in his absence. He's got to come here and he's got to hear what we've got to say. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he is present to be sentenced, he needs to hear what people have to say and I will hear from a pathologist who will explain the injuries he's caused.
"I know family and friends have travelled from Ireland but I am sure they understand my view that Liam Taylor should be here to be sentenced. I will only proceed in absence when other options have been exhausted."
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