This is Derbyshire -- THE mother of a "vibrant, life-loving" Derbyshire woman has branded her "jealous" murderer as "evil and barbaric". Maria Riley-Ward said "each day was a struggle" in coming to terms with the fact that her daughter, Jade, was no longer with her. "Nothing can bring my daughter back and what happened to her was done by someone evil and barbaric." But she hopes fund-raising in Jade's memory will enable a support group that helps families bereaved by violent crime to open in Derby. Yesterday, Cornelius Brown, 23, was jailed for life after stabbing ex-girlfriend Jade 83 times in her kitchen in Somercotes. The court heard he "lost it" after he wrongly believed she had been having an affair, Judge Jonathan Teare said it would be 20 years before he was considered for parole. He told Brown: "Your attack on Jade Riley-Ward was deliberate, vicious and prolonged. "It would not be wrong to describe it as torture. "You used up to four knives to inflict 52 individual cuts on her head, face, torso and back," the judge continued. "She tried to defend herself to the point that there were another 31 defence wounds to her hands and arms. She tried to stop you and not one of those knife wounds killed her outright. She essentially bled to death at your hands.""Bubbly, vivacious and full of life" Miss Riley-Ward was 30 when she was stabbed more than 80 times by the "jealous" boyfriend she was trying to end a relationship with. Sober and with no drugs in his system, he walked to her house in Burke Drive, Somercotes, at 3.10pm on Saturday, September 22, last year. Brown, of Riddings, had gone there with a mutual friend – Wayne Roberts – but after a few minutes Mr Roberts left. Seven minutes later he received a phone call from Miss Riley-Ward's mobile. He answered it but could not hear anything the other end and tried four times in the next few minutes to call her back. But each time it went to answerphone. At the same time a 16-year-old boy, who was walking past the house, heard Miss Riley-Ward and Brown arguing. Richard Thatcher, prosecuting at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, said: "The boy said he heard the defendant's voice say 'don't make me do it'." Mr Thatcher said another neighbour told the police she heard Jade screaming and pleading and the noise of a cutlery drawer being rattled. Mr Thatcher said: "At 3.39pm the defendant made a call to his mother. The defendant had spent a little time walking around the property. There were bloody footsteps on the stairs and evidence later gathered found he had smoked three cigarettes. "The defendant's mother arrived at the house by taxi and emerged from it a short time later screaming. "The defendant followed her out into the street. "He said to her, 'just kill me, I am not man enough to do it. She's dead'." It was a tragic 30 minutes that ended with the horrific death of Miss Riley-Ward. The "popular" only child of Maria Riley-Ward worked at Four04 Packaging in Hall Farm Way, Smalley, and was about to embark on an accountancy course. The court was told that she was looking to sell her home, visited the gym every day and enjoyed her job. In a statement read out at yesterday's sentencing, her mother, Maria Riley-Ward, said: "Jade was a lively, vibrant and life-loving woman with many friends. "She had her own house which she kept spotlessly clean, took great pride in how she looked and smelled. "Since her death my life has been full of dark days that only the mother who has lost her only child can have. "Nothing can bring my daughter back. Her life ended at the hands of someone who is evil and barbaric." Mr Thatcher told the court that Miss Riley-Ward and Brown, of Greenhill Lane, had known each other for a number of years – she had even been his babysitter when they were younger. They started a relationship in January 2012 but as the year progressed his "jealous streak" came forward and she had sent text messages to friends and family in the August saying there were problems in their relationship. Nine days before her death, she sent Brown a text message saying she "wanted space"– news he took badly. On a night out on September 15 last year, Miss Riley-Ward went for a night out with her girlfriends while Brown spent the night with their mutual friend, Mr Roberts. Mr Thatcher said: "The defendant thought she was having an affair behind his back. "He went to Miss Riley-Ward's house where he punched and damaged a wardrobe in the bedroom. "Mr Roberts tried to calm him but the defendant pushed him into the kitchen sink taps where he broke his nose. "Two days later Jade told the defendant she wanted to end the relationship but he had bought her a charm bracelet with the words 'I love you' engraved into it." After he killed Miss Riley-Ward, Brown tried to cut his own throat but the wounds were not enough to even break the skin, Mr Thatcher said. He was taken to King's Mill Hospital for treatment and released on police bail the following day. Two days after that, following questioning, he was charged with her murder. Brown pleaded guilty to murder at a hearing on November 15 this year, 14 months after the killing. The court was told that his previous convictions included burgling his grandmother's home, breaking a schoolboy's cheekbone in a playground fight when he was 10 and stabbing a youth at a party when he was a teenager. His solicitor, Patrick Thompson, said: "Nothing I can say can minimise the suffering and impact on Jade Riley-Ward's family and friends, who have lost a much-loved woman. "The real mitigation is his guilty plea. "He has never denied responsibility for the killing. "This was an act carried out in the heat of the moment, there is no evidence it was pre-meditated and clearly he was emotionally immature. "He lost his temper and committed the most dreadful, dreadful act. "He bitterly regrets what took place, he did not try to cover his tracks and blame someone else." Speaking outside the court, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pearson, who led the investigation, said: "This was a sustained and brutal attack on a defenceless young woman. "Jade had everything to live for and lost her life in the most senseless way. "I believe the sentence handed down today reflects the severity and nature of Brown's actions. "He will now spend a long time behind bars reflecting on what he did." Maria Riley-Ward's statement after the case said: "The outward beauty of Jade was a reflection of her inner beauty." In a statement released after the sentencing, she told how she hoped that a Derby branch of a support group to help families of those who lose loved ones to violent crime would be opened. "Many of her friends have also attended court over the months too, but the biggest show of support came on what would have been Jade's 31st birthday in June of this year, when a charity fund-raising day raised £3,525.44 for the Jason Spencer Trust in Nottingham. "This charity supports the families of those bereaved through violent crime. "This event will now take place annually in memory of Jade and the money raised will, it is hoped, open a second branch of the Jason Spencer Trust in Derby to help other local families in our position."
Reported by This is 37 minutes ago.
This is Derbyshire -- THE mother of a "vibrant, life-loving" Derbyshire woman has branded her "jealous" murderer as "evil and barbaric". Maria Riley-Ward said "each day was a struggle" in coming to terms with the fact that her daughter, Jade, was no longer with her. "Nothing can bring my daughter back and what happened to her was done by someone evil and barbaric." But she hopes fund-raising in Jade's memory will enable a support group that helps families bereaved by violent crime to open in Derby. Yesterday, Cornelius Brown, 23, was jailed for life after stabbing ex-girlfriend Jade 83 times in her kitchen in Somercotes. The court heard he "lost it" after he wrongly believed she had been having an affair, Judge Jonathan Teare said it would be 20 years before he was considered for parole. He told Brown: "Your attack on Jade Riley-Ward was deliberate, vicious and prolonged. "It would not be wrong to describe it as torture. "You used up to four knives to inflict 52 individual cuts on her head, face, torso and back," the judge continued. "She tried to defend herself to the point that there were another 31 defence wounds to her hands and arms. She tried to stop you and not one of those knife wounds killed her outright. She essentially bled to death at your hands.""Bubbly, vivacious and full of life" Miss Riley-Ward was 30 when she was stabbed more than 80 times by the "jealous" boyfriend she was trying to end a relationship with. Sober and with no drugs in his system, he walked to her house in Burke Drive, Somercotes, at 3.10pm on Saturday, September 22, last year. Brown, of Riddings, had gone there with a mutual friend – Wayne Roberts – but after a few minutes Mr Roberts left. Seven minutes later he received a phone call from Miss Riley-Ward's mobile. He answered it but could not hear anything the other end and tried four times in the next few minutes to call her back. But each time it went to answerphone. At the same time a 16-year-old boy, who was walking past the house, heard Miss Riley-Ward and Brown arguing. Richard Thatcher, prosecuting at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, said: "The boy said he heard the defendant's voice say 'don't make me do it'." Mr Thatcher said another neighbour told the police she heard Jade screaming and pleading and the noise of a cutlery drawer being rattled. Mr Thatcher said: "At 3.39pm the defendant made a call to his mother. The defendant had spent a little time walking around the property. There were bloody footsteps on the stairs and evidence later gathered found he had smoked three cigarettes. "The defendant's mother arrived at the house by taxi and emerged from it a short time later screaming. "The defendant followed her out into the street. "He said to her, 'just kill me, I am not man enough to do it. She's dead'." It was a tragic 30 minutes that ended with the horrific death of Miss Riley-Ward. The "popular" only child of Maria Riley-Ward worked at Four04 Packaging in Hall Farm Way, Smalley, and was about to embark on an accountancy course. The court was told that she was looking to sell her home, visited the gym every day and enjoyed her job. In a statement read out at yesterday's sentencing, her mother, Maria Riley-Ward, said: "Jade was a lively, vibrant and life-loving woman with many friends. "She had her own house which she kept spotlessly clean, took great pride in how she looked and smelled. "Since her death my life has been full of dark days that only the mother who has lost her only child can have. "Nothing can bring my daughter back. Her life ended at the hands of someone who is evil and barbaric." Mr Thatcher told the court that Miss Riley-Ward and Brown, of Greenhill Lane, had known each other for a number of years – she had even been his babysitter when they were younger. They started a relationship in January 2012 but as the year progressed his "jealous streak" came forward and she had sent text messages to friends and family in the August saying there were problems in their relationship. Nine days before her death, she sent Brown a text message saying she "wanted space"– news he took badly. On a night out on September 15 last year, Miss Riley-Ward went for a night out with her girlfriends while Brown spent the night with their mutual friend, Mr Roberts. Mr Thatcher said: "The defendant thought she was having an affair behind his back. "He went to Miss Riley-Ward's house where he punched and damaged a wardrobe in the bedroom. "Mr Roberts tried to calm him but the defendant pushed him into the kitchen sink taps where he broke his nose. "Two days later Jade told the defendant she wanted to end the relationship but he had bought her a charm bracelet with the words 'I love you' engraved into it." After he killed Miss Riley-Ward, Brown tried to cut his own throat but the wounds were not enough to even break the skin, Mr Thatcher said. He was taken to King's Mill Hospital for treatment and released on police bail the following day. Two days after that, following questioning, he was charged with her murder. Brown pleaded guilty to murder at a hearing on November 15 this year, 14 months after the killing. The court was told that his previous convictions included burgling his grandmother's home, breaking a schoolboy's cheekbone in a playground fight when he was 10 and stabbing a youth at a party when he was a teenager. His solicitor, Patrick Thompson, said: "Nothing I can say can minimise the suffering and impact on Jade Riley-Ward's family and friends, who have lost a much-loved woman. "The real mitigation is his guilty plea. "He has never denied responsibility for the killing. "This was an act carried out in the heat of the moment, there is no evidence it was pre-meditated and clearly he was emotionally immature. "He lost his temper and committed the most dreadful, dreadful act. "He bitterly regrets what took place, he did not try to cover his tracks and blame someone else." Speaking outside the court, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pearson, who led the investigation, said: "This was a sustained and brutal attack on a defenceless young woman. "Jade had everything to live for and lost her life in the most senseless way. "I believe the sentence handed down today reflects the severity and nature of Brown's actions. "He will now spend a long time behind bars reflecting on what he did." Maria Riley-Ward's statement after the case said: "The outward beauty of Jade was a reflection of her inner beauty." In a statement released after the sentencing, she told how she hoped that a Derby branch of a support group to help families of those who lose loved ones to violent crime would be opened. "Many of her friends have also attended court over the months too, but the biggest show of support came on what would have been Jade's 31st birthday in June of this year, when a charity fund-raising day raised £3,525.44 for the Jason Spencer Trust in Nottingham. "This charity supports the families of those bereaved through violent crime. "This event will now take place annually in memory of Jade and the money raised will, it is hoped, open a second branch of the Jason Spencer Trust in Derby to help other local families in our position."
Reported by This is 37 minutes ago.