A man has been sentenced to a minimum term of 35 years in prison for the murder, rape and sexual assault of a charity worker in Greater Manchester.
Simon Goold, 52, befriended Elizabeth McCann, 26, and plied her with alcohol, Manchester crown court heard. He took her back to his flat, where he raped and sexually assaulted her before strangling her with a ligature on 25 August 2022 in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Officers attended the scene and McCann was found dead at the scene.
The court heard McCann was receiving help for mental health issues and had been attending courses at the Health and Wellbeing College in Ashton-under-Lyne. It was during one of the courses that she first met Goold in 2021.
Duncan Thorpe, of Greater Manchester police’s major incident support unit, said: “Firstly, my thoughts are with Lizzie’s family and loved ones at this very difficult time.
“Lizzie was preyed upon by Simon Goold. He befriended her and plied her with drinks. He then took her back to his flat where he raped and sexually assaulted her, before strangling her with a ligature, she sadly died as a result of her injuries.
“Goold’s disregard for Lizzie and her welfare is unfathomable. He claimed that this was a game gone wrong and the catalogue of injuries that Lizzie sustained were horrific and definitely not consented.
“Goold is an extremely dangerous individual who fully deserves the sentence imposed on him today.”
Craig Cleminson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the sentencing: “Throughout the case he claimed that Elizabeth had given her full consent to all that happened to her and that he had not intended to cause her harm. But on the second day of the trial he eventually pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting, raping and murdering her.
“I cannot begin to imagine the sense of loss Elizabeth’s family are experiencing; I would like to express my condolences to them.”
In a postmortem report, a pathologist found McCann had suffered 46 external and internal injuries including ligature marks to her neck. A toxicology report also found that she had 109mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal driving limit is 80mg, jurors heard.
Goold, of Manchester Road in Ashton-under-Lyne, was charged with offences of murder, sexual assault and rape, and two offences of assault by penetration.
He pleaded not guilty to the five offences, but pleaded guilty to an alternative offence of manslaughter, jurors were told.
