Paragraph 7 reads: "'He's educated with a degree so if he felt any guilt he would have handed himself in.'"
Oct 18 2005 | |
By Luke Traynor, Liverpool Echo | |
THE Liverpool family of murdered prostitute Danielle Moorcroft today called for her killer to stay behind bars for life. Stuart Milsted, 31, was jailed at Liverpool crown court for battering the 21-year-old to death after paying the heavily-pregnant vice-girl for sex. Ms Moorcroft, who lived in Anfield until she was 15, was repeatedly battered about the head with a brick in Bolton's red-light district, then stripped and left to die. A judge gave Milsted, of Gilnow Road, Bolton, a life sentence and told him he must serve at least 11 years before he can apply for release. Ms Moorcroft's mother Mary Lodge (left) said: "This life sentence will never end for us and I will have to live with the memory of what he did to my daughter. "What Stuart Milsted did was horrific, and we are angry that he didn't show any remorse. Even his confession letter was in sympathy for himself. "He's educated with a degree so if he felt any guilt he would have handed himself in." Ms Moorcroft grew up with her family in Anfield until her midteens, before moving to Wales and then Bolton. She had been working as a prostitute to fund a heroin addiction. Milsted attacked her in June, 2002, after paying £40 for sex. He failed to get aroused and demanded his money back. A struggle took place during which he hit her with a brick and left a stone lodged in her mouth and bite marks on her arm.
Ms Moorcroft was five months pregnant when she was murdered. Her family later had the baby blessed and named him Callum. Chief Supt Patsy Wood of Greater Manchester police said that despite the length of time since the murder, detectives never stopped hunting for the killer. She added: "I am pleased that Milsted has admitted what he has done and that Danielle's family can finally have a sense of closure." Neighbours had previously described Milsted, who worked for a finance company in South Manchester, as a loner. The investigation to trace Ms Moorcroft's killer took more than three years as detectives traced an asthma inhaler lying near her battered body. Police took a DNA sample from him which prompted him to flee his flat in Bolton and leave behind a blood-stained confession note. After being found in a nearby park days later, he blamed his actions on taking the anti-depressant drug Seroxat. Ms Moorcroft's family added: "We truly believe that if it weren't for police obtaining his DNA sample he would never have admitted what he has done. "Despite what people may think of Danielle, she was a beautiful and lively girl who always had a smile on her face and she was the life and soul of any party. "If you met her she was the type of person that you wouldn't forget in a hurry, she was so full of life and energy." | |
