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Teenager jailed for ‘appalling’ murder of woman who offered him place to stay

A teenager has been jailed for life for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old football coach who offered him a place to stay.

Megan Newton's body was discovered in her flat in Stoke-on-Trent on April 20 last year.

Joseph Trevor, 19, also of Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to murder and two counts of rape at Stafford Crown Court on Monday.

He killed Megan after she gave him a place to stay for the night because he was too drunk to goo home, before using her key to leave her flat and throwing away the bloodstained fob.

After they got back to the flat, Trevor raped Megan before strangling her and stabbing her in the back at least eight times and leaving her naked on her bed.

'Popular and beautiful' Megan Newton was found dead on April 20, 2019 (SWNS)
'Popular and beautiful' Megan Newton was found dead on April 20, 2019 (SWNS)

Jailing him for life with a minimum term of 22 years for his “appalling crime”, Judge Michael Chambers QC said Trevor carried out a “brutal and sustained attack, conducted in a most callous way in her own home”.

“On any view she must tragically have suffered, suffered greatly, and suffered for a significant time,” he added.

Joseph Trevor pealeded guilty to the murder of 'precious and loving' Megan Newton
Joseph Trevor pealeded guilty to the murder of 'precious and loving' Megan Newton

Prosecutor Adrian Keeling QC said Megan and her attacker – who had attended to the same high school – met by chance on the night of Megan’s murder, having been out separately, then went to a nightclub together.

At some stage in the evening Trevor took drugs including ketamine and probably cocaine, said Keeling.

The trial into Megan's murder is being held at Stafford Crown COurt (Google Maps)
The trial into Megan's murder is being held at Stafford Crown Court (Google Maps)

He came to the attention of door staff at about 2am, who spotted him “with a bag of white powder in his hands”.

The police were called and took Trevor to a police station where he told officers the powder was “ket”.

Sports coach Megan hoped to go to become a sports therapist and travel to America as part of her planned university studies.

After the club closed, both Megan and Trevor met at a taxi rank.

Trevor, telling friends his parents “would go mad” if he arrived home in his drunken state, was trying to find a place to sleep for the night.

Keeling said: “It was Megan Newton who offered him a bed for the night. It was a typical act of kindness by her but one that cost her her life.”

The two arrived at Megan’s home at 4am. At 4.15am, she received a text from a friend asking if she wanted to go back out for a another drink, but Trevor said he could not be bothered and she declined the offer.

Keeling said there was “no evidence the deceased was sexually attracted” to Trevor, although he would later lie telling police he awoke to find her having sex with him.

A post mortem examination revealed the “true horror” of Megan’s final moments.

She was strangled unconscious but “probably alive”, when Trevor got a kitchen knife from her flat and repeatedly stabbed her with such force some of the blows reached her lungs.

Afterwards, Trevor was “remarkably composed”, leaving the flat only to find the exit to the housing complex locked.

He returned to the flat, walking past his victim who he had left in “utter indignity” on her bed, to get a key, before throwing the blood-stained fob away.

The court heard that just weeks before the murder Trevor had attempted to kill himself because of “depression” stemming in part from a previous oral rape allegation.

His barrister Tim Hannum told the court his client had shown remorse for the “tragedy”, in which “two young lives had been destroyed”.