- 2 days ago
Social Media Monsters - Season 1 Episode 1
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00:00I could just see these two faint figures in the alleyway.
00:16Didn't get a reply at all.
00:23The lady on the other end of the phone said,
00:25I've got your daughter's phone.
00:27And I said, oh, where's she left it?
00:30And she said, no, no, she's been stabbed.
00:34He'd used all the techniques we'd taught me and cadets
00:38to follow Holly round Hexham.
00:46He didn't just stab Holly once.
00:50He stabbed her 36 times.
00:52You've been too hard, do you mean?
00:54No.
00:57I knew straight away who'd done it because it wouldn't have been anyone else.
01:01Right, you're under arrest on suspicion of an assault.
01:05I would do anything for you.
01:08And you know I would.
01:09My boy.
01:10I don't know what to do.
01:39I'm talking black, that's a black, that's a black.
01:46Holly was my first born, I had Holly when I was 18.
01:50So yeah, she made me a mum and I felt like we kind of grew up together.
01:57Holly Newton lived in a busy family home in Northumberland
02:11with a brother, two sisters, her mum and stepdad.
02:16If she didn't have her phone in her hand, she was asleep.
02:20She was always on Facebook or uploading pictures on Instagram and TikTok.
02:26She always wanted to make TikToks with us at school.
02:31And I'm not like big into dancing and making TikToks and stuff,
02:36but she always like managed to get me to do it.
02:40Just any dance that she could find she would do.
02:50As well as dancing at school, Holly's weekends were full of dance competitions,
02:54sleepovers and cadet camps, which is where she first met a boy called Logan McPhail.
03:02They didn't go to the same school, but I knew they were in touch via social media,
03:06yeah, the same as any of her other friends, though.
03:10WhatsApp, Snapchat, erm, Facebook even.
03:18They were friends to start with and then actually, like, calling themselves a girlfriend and boyfriend.
03:24And I thought, oh, that's really nice.
03:26So, at first, it was very much Holly and Logan. Everything was Holly and Logan.
03:40We kind of took them under our wing and we took them to centre parks,
03:43we took them canoeing, we took them paddle boarding.
03:46We did all sorts, to be honest.
03:48We'd make pancakes together, they would play games.
03:52And he spent a lot of time with Holly's brother as well.
03:55You know, they would Xbox together, they would, you know, do a lot together as well.
04:02Logan communicated through voice notes because he couldn't read or write really well at all.
04:15It is a bit hard to understand them at first, but once you've been around them a while,
04:20you do learn to understand them.
04:23I would do anything for you, and you know I would.
04:33Logan spent most weekends at Holly's family home,
04:36although it was clear from the start that they were different personalities.
04:41She was just a happy-go-lucky kind of girl.
04:44Holly had lots of friends, Logan didn't have any friends.
04:47He was just very, like, introvert and kept to himself and stuff.
04:52And before we met him, she did say that he might be a bit quiet and not want to speak much.
05:04When Logan first joined Cadets, his sister made us aware that he had learning difficulties.
05:14But when I met him, I thought he's a nice lad.
05:19He was polite. He was nice and quiet.
05:22So she did, at times, become a little bit frustrated with him, but all she wanted to do was help him.
05:31After over a year of what Holly's mum and stepdad were thinking was a normal, happy teenage relationship,
05:38Holly started to hint that it was coming to an end.
05:41Holly started a new school and she wanted to spend time with different people.
05:50And she didn't feel like she could do that with Logan.
05:56Holly thought that, by staying with Logan, that she could change him and help him.
06:06And maybe one day he'd have friends.
06:10But I think eventually she started to realise that that wasn't going to happen.
06:14She felt like she had to focus on Logan rather than having a life of her own.
06:30Are you done with me, Holly?
06:32I hope you're not done with me, Eden.
06:35If you tell me the truth.
06:37I'm not done with yet.
06:42Yeah, I want to stay with you and stuff, but like, I'm not going to tell you as much stuff as I did.
06:47She didn't want to hurt Logan anymore because she knew that she was the only one that he actually had.
06:57But eventually it started being a bit strange.
07:04Me and Holly had planned that she was going to sleep at mine one night.
07:08He ended up having a tantrum and locking himself in the bathroom and bawling his eyes out.
07:13And he wouldn't let anyone in.
07:15And I was having to talk some friends into him.
07:18Like, begging him that he could always just meet up with Holly another time.
07:24But he just wasn't having any of it.
07:38We could see a change in our behaviour.
07:41But again, we didn't know what was going on.
07:47We couldn't decide whether it was school, the relationship, or what it was.
07:54They were together, then they weren't together, then they were back together.
07:56And that was frustrating for us.
07:58This is what kids do.
08:05And we'd even said to Holly a couple of times, like, you need to make your mind up.
08:11You need to decide what you're going to do.
08:15With teenagers in general, if you tell them what to do, they'll ignore you.
08:26Eventually, in early January, Holly had decided she wanted to end things with Logan once and for all.
08:32But Logan didn't take it well.
08:45He just would non-stop message her.
08:47He didn't want to be left alone, begging, saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
08:51Please, can we try again?
08:53And Holly just wanted to leave her alone.
08:57If you couldn't get in touch with her, then it was constantly ringing her.
09:01You know, a lot.
09:03It wasn't just a couple of times.
09:04We're talking, you know, up to 50 times a day.
09:08He'd message me trying to get in touch with her.
09:16He'd beg me to speak to her and get me to try to talk some sense into her.
09:22That's what he said.
09:27Because he was obviously really upset.
09:34One night sticks out for me.
09:37Me and Michaela were sitting in the living room watching a film and Holly came down upset.
09:42And we said to her, what's the matter?
09:46And she said, he's changed all our passwords on social media.
09:52I says, right, I'll sort this out.
10:08We knew he was being controlling.
10:10And his mother agreed that he'd become obsessed with Holly.
10:14It's extremely difficult for parents to get involved in the relationship that their children have.
10:26They don't always know what's happening.
10:28Quite often the person who doesn't want it to end will take other measures.
10:34It's a very, very dangerous time.
10:38And she just felt really violated.
10:40Logan definitely did it because he wanted control.
10:42Because he knew at that point that all the control that he had was slipping away from him.
10:47Holly's friends had actually told Holly that they didn't think her relationship was normal.
10:53They felt it was toxic.
10:54Or are we seeing what's quite normal and appropriate?
10:59Or is it the result of something more sinister like coercive behaviour?
11:03When we think about the digital world, it's very good at hiding some of these red flags.
11:07It's not until actually five days before she's murdered that she did say to us,
11:21I'm really struggling to get out of this relationship.
11:26You know, you just can't leave me alone.
11:30Oh look!
11:57Fifteen-year-old Holly Newton from Northumberland is in a relationship with Logan McPhail, a lad she met a cadet. He's her first boyfriend.
12:08They were like best friends, to be honest. They did everything together. They went out for food together. They were always out shopping at the Metro Centre.
12:15It was just typical teenage things that teenagers would do, but it wasn't until Holly took Logan into her social circle, and I think that didn't work.
12:27And we just said, like, it's not normal. He seems to be very controlling, very unusual around you, and he obviously wasn't happy that she was with her friends.
12:41Logan was never happy to be with somebody else. He wanted it just to be him and her.
12:46But after over a year of being together, Holly realised that Logan's obsession with her was getting out of control.
13:04To try and make a clean break, she blocked him from all her social media accounts.
13:09Towards the end of the relationship, she was very anxious. Her confidence definitely dropped.
13:19I knew that the only way that she was going to get a chance to get out of it was by blocking him and just stopping all contact completely.
13:27When Holly had cut off all communication with Logan, she was like a different child. She was so much happier.
13:36I want to do the old version. I'm talking back.
13:40That last week of Holly's life, she was so happy.
13:46And I feel now it was because she didn't have anybody to answer to.
13:51We felt like we had Holly back to ourselves.
13:55She felt free. Her confidence went straight back up, and she was happy again, she was dancing, and she was speaking to another boy on Snapchat that she definitely got along with really well, and she was just happy again, like she knew she was free from it.
14:15But for Logan, being dumped and then being blocked, provoked a different reaction.
14:27Intuitively, you block somebody who is being abusive in a relationship, but the irony is that you actually might create a larger danger.
14:35Because if that person can't contact you via social media, they may decide to target you physically, turning up at your house, at your school, at your place of work.
14:48Logan would have felt disrespected. He would have felt personally affronted.
14:53The fact that he wanted the relationship to continue and Holly didn't would have added fuel to that fire.
14:59Holly was everything to him, and this is why he became obsessed with it.
15:03He made a fake account on TikTok to try, message her as well, and just to see what was going on, and he just didn't give up.
15:16He did anything possible to get in touch through social media.
15:19He didn't even have one other friend. He had no friends. His family life wasn't great. He had Holly, and he knew he was losing her.
15:34But obviously, that's not Holly's fault.
15:43For Logan to see Holly, he would have to get one bus from Bertley into Newcastle.
15:47And then another across to Hexham.
15:54And on to Haltwistle, where Holly lived.
15:58A two-hour journey the family hoped would mean they'd seen the last of him.
16:03But it was not to be.
16:04I was with Holly at the dance academy where she was practising, and Michaela had had a phone call from Logan's mum saying,
16:22Have you seen him?
16:28I said, no, he's not here. Holly's at dance.
16:31And she said, when Holly comes home, can you just ask that, you know, if she's heard from him?
16:37And I said, I will.
16:39I'll ask her as soon as she gets in.
16:40That evening, Logan was on a bus heading towards Haltwistle.
16:48But nobody knew exactly where he was, or what he was planning.
16:57En route, Logan eventually called his mum, spinning her a tale that he was actually round the corner from home.
17:03He was sending me voice notes, and I could hear that he was outside.
17:11And I said, are you at a parking gate said?
17:14And he wouldn't answer me.
17:15I said, are you at a parking Haltwistle?
17:17And he completely dodged that question.
17:20Like, he just would not answer me at all.
17:22I asked him multiple times.
17:24But Logan's lie had worked.
17:27Holly's family felt safe, thinking he wasn't nearby.
17:30So, for the rest of the night, it was just a normal night.
17:49Up to bed about half ten, eleven o'clock.
17:52And Michaela was woken up by a phone call.
17:56Logan's mum had discovered the truth.
18:01His obsession with Holly had left him stranded in the middle of the night, 40 miles away from home.
18:08Logan's mother was very, very upset.
18:12She'd said that Logan was in Haltwistle Park, and I needed to send Holly up to go and get him from the park.
18:17And, of course, I said, absolutely not, it's midnight, it's January, you know, I'm not going to send my 15-year-old daughter up to the park to get Logan.
18:34She said, well, if I can get him to come round to your house, can you take him in for the night?
18:39And I said, no, absolutely not, it's not my responsibility.
18:44I messaged Holly, and I said, are you asleep?
18:47And she messaged back, and she said, no, but I know that Logan's in Haltwistle.
18:55Despite blocking Logan from contacting Holly on socials, he was still in touch with her brother.
19:00He'd been messaging Holly's brother, asking him to open his window so he could climb in.
19:14Luckily, our son's had the sense to go, no, just get yourself away home.
19:26I started checking the cameras, obviously the door camera and everything,
19:29because it was not a very nice feeling thinking that somebody might be watching the house
19:35and not knowing how long somebody's been watching your house for.
19:44It was one o'clock in the morning, police found him not very far from Holly's home.
19:49They picked him up and they took him back to his home.
19:52There's numerous red flags.
20:01The first is he bombarded Holly with messages and communications.
20:05There's a real sense of a constant desire to get in contact with her,
20:08and he wasn't able to take no for an answer when she didn't respond.
20:12He also hacked into her social media accounts.
20:14But also what's incredibly worrying is on a school night,
20:20he travelled 30 miles to gain access to her house.
20:27So all of this really highlights that he was not only persistent,
20:31but really intent, we can even say obsessional,
20:34in trying to make contact with Holly.
20:35Logan wasn't mentioned that morning.
21:00I had it in the back of my mind.
21:01I knew Lee was thinking about it,
21:03but I never, you know, I never mentioned that to Holly.
21:09And everyone went to school as normal.
21:20Holly didn't speak of it much
21:22because I don't think she wanted people to know how scared she was.
21:26She felt like there was a possibility that she could be in danger.
21:32She didn't want to believe it, though,
21:35because she didn't want to believe that anyone could do something that bad.
21:39While Michaela was trying not to alarm Holly,
21:42she made sure to stay in touch with her throughout the day.
21:46At what time are you going to be back tonight?
21:49Like...
21:50I think I knew the right thing to do was to phone the police
21:54because she was obviously concerned about his behaviour.
21:59She knew that he was obsessed with her.
22:04But I knew she was safe in school.
22:09And again, we didn't think for one second,
22:11though, it would end up how it did
22:13because obviously I would never have let her go out of that house.
22:19If police are worried about the safety of a young person,
22:22they will send round a family liaison officer
22:25who will then liaise with the family
22:28and also other interested parties.
22:30It could be school, health, anything,
22:32to make sure that that person stays safe,
22:35that that young person is protected.
22:37Straight away, they said
22:38they would come out at four o'clock that afternoon.
22:42There's some real opportunities for the police to intervene
22:44and have an impact on any future behaviour.
22:47So then I messaged her again
22:48and I said, look, you're going to have to come
22:50straight home from school.
22:52The police are coming out at four o'clock.
22:54A bit later on, Holly had messaged
22:57saying that one of her friends had had a message from Logan
23:01to say that he was going to follow her around after school.
23:04Yeah, Logan was messaging me
23:06saying that he was going to come into Hexham after school
23:10and he was going to wait for us outside school.
23:15Also, I told Holly straight away.
23:18We were both a bit like,
23:20he's not going to come all the way here.
23:27Holly's mum immediately contacted the school,
23:30who increased security on sight.
23:32One of the teachers was going to, like,
23:34walk us out of school in case like he is there.
23:39But after school was a different problem
23:41and Holly didn't want to come straight home.
23:48She just really wanted to go out that day
23:51and she was begging me to go out with her
23:53because she said that she was going out
23:55to meet this boy after school.
23:57Holly wanted to try and
23:59see what it was like with other people,
24:01see if it'd be the same
24:03as it was with Logan.
24:05Because I was telling her
24:07it's not the same at all.
24:09You don't have to have that caregiver role
24:12that you do with Logan.
24:13Holly was adamant that Logan ruined everything for her.
24:16She was supposed to be going out with two friends in Hexham
24:20and she, again, she was being controlled by Logan.
24:25That's how Holly felt.
24:26And to be honest, as a mother,
24:30I did feel a little bit sorry for her.
24:33I thought she's so young
24:34and she's got herself in such a controlling relationship
24:36that she's just desperate for this little bit of freedom.
24:38The reason Michaela agreed to Holly's request
24:42was knowing that Logan was messaging everyone
24:44saying he was in Newcastle,
24:46a 90-minute bus journey away.
24:54So, you know, I said to her, I said, OK,
24:57so I changed the appointment.
24:59They were coming out at 8 o'clock instead.
25:02Because at this point of the day,
25:04he wouldn't have had time to get from Newcastle
25:06to Holtwistle for Holly finishing school.
25:08So we're sitting thinking, yeah,
25:11everything's going to be all right.
25:16PHONE RINGS
25:38All over his socials, Logan McPhail
25:43is telling Holly's friends and family
25:44that he's 30 miles away on a bus
25:47heading into Newcastle.
25:56But that's a lie.
25:58He's taken another bus to Hexham
26:01so he can confront Holly after school.
26:11Logan is saying that he's in Newcastle.
26:14He's sending messages to Holly's family.
26:18Very, very premeditated.
26:20It was very, very clear what was in his mind.
26:22He was going to stalk Holly.
26:24We were a bit more cautious that day
26:30and we were just looking everywhere we went to see who was there.
26:35We didn't really have any set plans.
26:37We just knew that we were going to go around Hexham,
26:40maybe go to the shops.
26:41The boy that she was with was going to walk over
26:46at the train station so that she could go back home
26:48and we had no clue this whole time
26:53that Logan was actually following us.
26:56While Logan is using social media
27:04to send false posts about his whereabouts,
27:07he's using the same apps to track Holly's location.
27:15When she blocked him on everything,
27:18he was very clever in thinking,
27:19OK, I can't see Holly's location anymore,
27:22but I know exactly who she'll be with and I can see theirs.
27:24So what I'll do is I'll follow theirs instead
27:26and then, you know, it's very, very likely
27:29that Holly is also going to be there.
27:34Using a phone to follow people
27:36and sort of trying to avoid detection,
27:39I think that's danger written all over it.
27:44We walked through Hexham
27:46and we walked down this hill
27:48that leads down next to the Wentworth Cafe
27:50and then we went and sat in the Wentworth Leisure Centre
27:54for a bit.
28:01We followed them for, without any of them known,
28:05for 45 minutes around Hexham Town Centre.
28:08There's an element in cadets called field craft
28:19where it's hiding yourself from the enemy in the field.
28:24So you're taught how to follow the enemy, essentially.
28:32Army cadets is where Holly first met Logan.
28:34The skills they learned together as friends
28:37became a technique he was now using against her,
28:42staying around 30 seconds behind her.
28:50We thought Logan was still in Newcastle at this point
28:53and we just didn't have any suspicions
28:56that he was actually right behind us the whole time.
28:59They then headed over to Tesco.
29:03He's hiding in trolley bars.
29:05He's hiding behind cars.
29:13He's keeping himself to the side
29:15so Holly wouldn't see him
29:17if she happened to turn around and look back.
29:19He told his mum he was in Newcastle.
29:28He told his friends he was in Newcastle.
29:30He was trying to create a false alibi
29:33as if he knew that he was going to do something very bad.
29:38He waits for them to come back out of Tesco
29:41and then he follows them back up to Hexham
29:43where Holly then leaves one of her friends
29:45with her sister.
29:50When I left on that day
29:52I just thought that this is going to be good for her.
29:56She seemed really happy.
29:58They're going to go get some food
29:59and then she's going to go home.
30:01That was what the plan was anyway.
30:03And then she continues with the male friend
30:06to the pizza shop.
30:07He's hid it in the doorway of her old shop
30:13further up the road
30:14and he's waited until Holly's friend's gone in the pizza shop
30:18while she was stood outside at the bus stop
30:21to approach her.
30:24So you can see her, she's very frustrated.
30:26She just wants to leave him alone.
30:29But, you know, he's adamant
30:32he just needs to speak to her alone.
30:37She's not happy about the situation at all.
30:43Logan's trying to persuade her
30:46to go down the alleyway next to the pizza shop.
30:54The last phone call I got from Holly
30:56was when she was standing outside the pizza shop
31:00and she'd rang me to double check
31:02what time she needed to be home
31:03and that was the last conversation I had with her.
31:07Logan's then
31:09got her into the alleyway
31:12where the attack happened.
31:16After I left them
31:18I got picked up by my mum
31:20and then we went past Pizza Pizza
31:22and I could just see
31:25these two faint figures
31:28of what looked like Holly
31:29and someone else in the alleyway.
31:31I started messaging straight away
31:33being like, Holly, was that Logan?
31:35What's he doing there?
31:36Are you alright?
31:37You're alright?
31:42Didn't get a reply at all.
31:46In the alley
31:47Logan stabbed Holly
31:49with a three-inch kitchen knife
31:51he'd brought with him.
31:59He didn't just stab Holly once
32:01that would have been bad enough
32:03he stabbed her 36 times.
32:07He had every intention of brutally murdering Holly.
32:13Holly was stabbed in the back of her head
32:16her neck and chest.
32:23The intensity of the attack
32:25meant the knife broke in two.
32:27So the members of the public would have seen the attack.
32:32They sort of rushed in
32:33no thought to their own safety
32:35one of Holly's friends
32:37was stabbed
32:37trying to save her.
32:39Passers-by detained Logan
32:41and the ambulance arrived about ten minutes later
32:44to tend to Holly.
32:46We'd gone to drop one of Holly's siblings off at my mam's house
32:57when I received a phone call.
33:00The lady on the other end of the phone said,
33:02I've got your daughter's phone
33:03and I said,
33:05oh, where's she left it?
33:06She'll be lost without it
33:07I'll come and get it.
33:09And she said,
33:09no, no, she's been stabbed.
33:12I just put my foot to the floor
33:14and got there as quick as I can.
33:17As we pulled up
33:18I just put the brake on
33:20and jumped out
33:20and as I went down the alleyway
33:23seeing the crews working on Holly.
33:29Lee jumped out straight away
33:31and I sat there for a minute.
33:33I didn't really know what to do.
33:35The only other thing I remember
33:36is Lee coming running out of the alley
33:37and he said,
33:38whatever happens,
33:38you don't go down there.
33:40And I didn't.
33:41When I seen Holly,
33:42it was sheer disbelief
33:44and dread.
33:50Coming out the alleyway
33:55it was just
33:56something
33:59I knew if Michaela seen it
34:01she wouldn't be able to cope.
34:06Because once it goes in your eyes
34:07it never comes out.
34:20Holly is fighting for her life.
34:24The friend she was having pizza with
34:26also got injured
34:27trying to help her.
34:34Have you got anything in your pockets?
34:36My phone.
34:42What's your name?
34:43Logan McPhil.
34:45Logan?
34:46Logan Shane McPhil.
34:49Who's the last?
34:50Do you know my name?
34:54Holly McPhil.
34:55Who?
34:55Holly McPhil.
34:56Newton.
34:58Where's your from?
34:59Holly.
35:02When Logan was arrested
35:03he started to say
35:05that Holly had been mean to him.
35:08You mean too.
35:09I loved the man.
35:09I loved the man.
35:10I loved the man.
35:11I loved the man.
35:13I loved the man who was like
35:14I loved the man who was like
35:14I loved the man.
35:14I loved the man.
35:15I loved the man.
35:17The knife that Logan had carried
35:19he said had been meant
35:21to be used on him
35:22not on Holly.
35:24But his mind went blank
35:26and he went too far.
35:29I knew straight away who'd done it
35:30because it wouldn't have been anyone else.
35:32I then rang Logan's mother
35:37and I just remember screaming down the phone to her
35:39what you'd done
35:40and I don't really remember what she said to me at all
35:47to be honest.
35:47The next thing I remember is Lee
35:54banging on the back of the police van
35:57and I'd said to Lee
35:59that that's Logan in there
36:01and Lee had said
36:02I'll kill him.
36:0315-year-old Holly Newton
36:25had been stalked on social media
36:27by her monster of an ex-boyfriend
36:29Logan McPhail.
36:31He lured her into an alley
36:34stabbed her
36:35and the friend she'd been having pizza with.
36:47I was sitting on my bed
36:49still messaging
36:50Holly and the boy that she was with
36:53saying is everything alright
36:54what's happened
36:54and it must have been about 10 minutes
36:57maybe 20 after that
36:59that I got a message off the boat
37:02that shows her
37:03saying I can't talk
37:05we've been stabbed.
37:10Both were rushed to Newcastle's
37:12Royal Victoria Infirmary
37:13but Holly Newton died
37:15before her mum and stepdad
37:17were able to see her.
37:19when your child dies
37:22of course you want to touch them
37:23you want to hold their hand
37:24you want to kiss them
37:25you want to cuddle them
37:26but I was basically told
37:28that I would be arrested
37:29if I touched her
37:30because at that point
37:31you've lost your daughter
37:33she's not Holly anymore
37:34she's evidence
37:34she's police evidence.
37:35and it must have been about
37:38one or two in the morning
37:40I remember mum saying
37:42I'm sorry but
37:45she didn't make it
37:46and that's kind of like
37:48what's played through
37:50my head quite a bit
37:52I literally just broke down
37:55into her arms.
37:58Holly's friend survived the attack
38:00her ex-boyfriend
38:0216-year-old Logan McPhail
38:04was arrested at the scene.
38:09You're under arrest
38:10on suspicion of an assault
38:11you do not have to say anything
38:13with me and help me defend
38:14you do not mention
38:15my question
38:16something that you later rely on
38:17in court.
38:18Body cam footage shows
38:20that just minutes
38:21after inflicting the stab wounds
38:22McPhail appears calm.
38:27The moment someone's arrested
38:29can be incredibly telling
38:30it gives us an insight
38:32into their mindsets
38:33an insight into their
38:34emotional connection
38:36but also an insight
38:37into the relationship
38:38of what they've done
38:39or may not have done.
38:43I mean Logan's explanation
38:49that the knife was there
38:51for himself
38:53if you've got a knife
38:54if you're setting yourself
38:57with alibis
38:57about being in Newcastle
38:59as being in the scene
39:00and I think people
39:01would have seen through that.
39:07McPhail's lawyers
39:08wouldn't be able to deny
39:09that he had committed a crime
39:11in that alleyway
39:12but what category of crime
39:14it was could be contested
39:16along with whether he was fit
39:18and able to stand trial.
39:21Murder carries a greater sentence
39:22and can be life imprisonment
39:24but for murder
39:26you have to prove intent
39:27you have to prove
39:28that he premeditated it
39:29and he intended to kill Holly.
39:32We know that as a minor
39:33Logan was the subject
39:35of a child protection plan
39:36which means
39:37he was deemed at risk.
39:39He had been assessed
39:40as being on the autistic spectrum
39:41he had a lower IQ.
39:43Special measures
39:44that had to be put into place
39:45for Logan
39:46and it's really hard
39:47to sit there
39:48and you know
39:49watch people
39:50pander around him
39:51when he's literally
39:52murdered a child.
39:56There's a legal system
39:58there's legal procedures
39:59which are there
40:00quite rightly
40:00to protect people
40:01even though a life
40:02has been lost.
40:05While the lawyers
40:06were arguing
40:06over the technicalities
40:08of the law
40:08Michaela and Lee
40:09were burying their daughter.
40:13They tried to say
40:14Logan wasn't
40:15competent enough
40:17to stand trial.
40:20It was frustrating
40:21we had to wait
40:23for
40:24a year and a half
40:27nearly
40:27for him to be found
40:30that he was
40:31fit enough
40:32to stand trial.
40:33We felt like
40:34we couldn't grieve
40:35for Holly
40:35until we'd got
40:36some sort of
40:36justice for us
40:37so it was a long time
40:38not to grieve
40:39properly for our child.
40:41On the eve of the trial
40:53Michaela and Lee
40:54were called in
40:55by police
40:55to go through
40:56all the evidence
40:57that had been
40:57accumulated
40:58so that they knew
40:59what to expect.
41:01That day was
41:03probably the second
41:05hardest day
41:05of our lives
41:06watching Holly
41:07on CCTV
41:08and some of the stuff
41:11he was saying
41:12was
41:13soul destroying.
41:16I think his plan was
41:18to
41:18if I can
41:19paint Holly
41:20in such an awful picture
41:22then people will feel
41:22sorry for me.
41:23I'm also going to use
41:25the excuse
41:25that I blacked out.
41:26I'm going to use
41:27my mental health
41:28as well
41:28and then hopefully
41:30I'll either get
41:32totally off with it
41:34or I'll get a very
41:34very low sentence.
41:41By 25th of August
41:43all the evidence
41:44had been heard
41:45and the jury
41:46began their deliberation.
41:51In my head
41:52it was a clear
41:53conviction
41:54but you always
41:56have that
41:57doubt there
41:58as well
41:59so those
42:00four days
42:02of sitting
42:03waiting for them
42:03to come back
42:04it's
42:05you're constantly
42:09running through
42:10everything in your head
42:11and praying
42:12to get the right decision.
42:14Juries are influenced
42:14by barristers
42:15they're influenced
42:17by people
42:17who will say
42:18that this person
42:19had
42:20challenges
42:21around their well-being
42:23about their mental health
42:24so all of those factors
42:26do influence
42:27juries.
42:31It was such a relief
42:32when the jury
42:33came back
42:34and said
42:34that he was guilty.
42:38The judge decided
42:39when he was sentencing
42:40that
42:41Logan's learning disabilities
42:43and his autism
42:45were not severe enough
42:47to actually influence
42:49to actually influence
42:49the sentencing
42:49however
42:50the judge
42:51couldn't be certain
42:52that Logan
42:53had premeditated
42:54taking the knife
42:56and actually taking
42:57Holly's life
42:58on that day.
42:59Despite Logan
43:00having a knife
43:01and travelling there
43:02and giving himself
43:03alibis
43:03he wasn't
43:04satisfied
43:05that that was sufficient
43:06for premeditation
43:07as part of the murder.
43:11Rather than giving
43:12a full life term
43:13the judge
43:14sentenced Logan
43:15to a minimum
43:16of 17 years
43:17in prison.
43:18I don't personally
43:20think that
43:20that was long enough
43:21but I think
43:23he could have gave him
43:24a minimum term
43:24of 60 years
43:25and for me
43:25that wouldn't have
43:26been long enough.
43:27He could be out
43:28when he's in his early 30s
43:30he can start a family
43:31he can basically
43:32get on with his life
43:33all the things
43:34that Holly now
43:34hasn't got the opportunity
43:35to do.
43:38I would do anything
43:39for you
43:40and you know
43:41I would.
43:43One of the tragedies
43:44of Holly's life
43:45being cut so short
43:46was that
43:47but for a loophole
43:48in the law
43:49police might have
43:50been able
43:51to prevent the attack.
43:53If Holly
43:54and Logan
43:55had both been
43:56over 16
43:57when Logan
43:57was found
43:58in the park
43:59near Holly's house
44:00at 1 o'clock
44:01in the morning
44:01this would have been
44:02categorised as
44:03domestic violence.
44:04He could have
44:05been arrested
44:05she could have been
44:07offered a different
44:07type of support.
44:08and that was
44:10all missed
44:10because she was
44:1115.
44:19The mechanism
44:20that Logan
44:20was dealt with
44:21would have been
44:22completely different.
44:27I'm not going to
44:27tell you as much
44:28stuff as I did.
44:33Holly might still
44:34be here
44:34if she'd known
44:35much earlier
44:36the signs
44:36of domestic abuse
44:37and she could have
44:38got out of that
44:38relationship
44:39much earlier
44:39and safely.
44:43We're just
44:44endlessly
44:45campaigning
44:46for that law
44:47to change
44:48and for Holly's law
44:50to come into place
44:51to protect
44:52under-16s
44:53in relationships.
44:54encourage your kids
45:12to talk to you
45:13about anything
45:15whether it's good
45:16or bad
45:17always
45:18encourage your kids
45:19to talk to you
45:20and listen to them
45:21without judging
45:23or anything
45:24and just
45:25do your best
45:27to help them
45:28as you will.
45:33I remember
45:34seeing to Lee
45:35and thinking to myself
45:37as well
45:38the kids have lost
45:39their sister
45:39I'm not going to let them
45:40lose their mum as well
45:41as a mother
45:42you do that
45:43I just remember
45:47Holly's always smiling
45:48like always
45:50always smiling
45:51dancing
45:52singing
45:53she was such
45:59a bubbly person
45:59and
46:00I just thought
46:01that's someone
46:02I want to be friends with
46:03I don't know
46:04I don't know
46:06ella
46:08I don't know
46:08who does
46:09she
46:09she
46:11sie
46:13she
46:13can стран
46:14tell her
46:16I do
46:17I had a
46:18I do
46:19I do
46:19I do
46:20I do
46:21I do
46:21I do
46:21I do
46:22I do
46:25I do
46:25I do
46:26I do
46:27I do
46:29,
46:29I
46:31do
46:32I do
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