A man who pleaded guilty to murdering Leeds woman Kirstie Ellis last month has been sentenced to life in prison today.
Tony Brooks, 36, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 24 years and nine months on Thursday, November 3, at Leeds Crown Court. As part of his sentencing remarks, Judge Bayliss KC said "you denied her any dignity or decency even in death".
The judge concluded that Brooks, of Agbrigg Road, Wakefield, murdered Kirstie, 35, on February 1, 2022. Her body was left to decompose at her home in 3 Stanhall Mews, Stanningley, until Brooks told police she had been attacked on March 25.
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Mr Christopher Moran, prosecuting, told the court how police had found blood spattered around Kirstie's home and leading up stairs. They followed it upstairs to find Kirstie dead in the bath, naked but for a blanket draped over her.
Around her neck were a dressing gown cord and an HDMI cable, that the pathologist concluded had been used to strangle her. Inside her throat were two socks and a lint roller, which had also blocked her airways, leading to her death.
The prosecution went on to describe how Brooks had taken a television and a sound bar from Kirstie's home after her death and sold them. He also later returned to the property to take her bank card and with draw money from it.
Brooks also used Kirstie's Facebook Messenger account to message her friends pretending to be her. Mr Moran told the court he had attempted to arrange meetings between himself and Kirstie's friends.
Kirstie's younger sister Hannah Kitson read out a victim impact statement to the court describing the devastating effects on Kirstie's family. She described Kirstie as "a loving and caring person. She had a heart of gold," Hannah continued. "Which was full of love. A love she shared with everyone she could."
Hannah said Kirstie's family will never recover from her death, and addressing Brooks directly, said she hoped he would never be able to forgive himself.
Mitigating, Mr Abdul Iqbal KC argued that there should be some credit for Brooks' eventual guilty plea, and that the attack had not been pre-meditated before it began. He also argued the attack on Kirstie did not meet the threshold to be described as "sadistic", which the judge accepted.
"I'm quite sure that you intended to kill her," Judge Bayliss said, sentencing. He added: "I'm quite sure your expressions of remorse are disingenuous" and that Brooks had been "manipulating and controlling" Kirstie before he killed her. The time Brooks has already spent on remand will be deducted from his minimum term in prison.
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