Stephen Nicholson

Age: 30

Town: Southampton

Convicted: 19/07/2019

A lodger who raped and murdered a 13-year-old girl to stop her exposing him as an abuser has been jailed for life.

Stephen Nicholson, 25, has been jailed for life for the rape and murder of 13-year-old Lucy McHugh.

Nicholson, who was living at Lucy's family home, stabbed her 27 times at Southampton Outdoor Sports Centre in July 2018. He was found guilty of murder and three counts of rape following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Judge Mrs Justice May described Nicholson as "depraved" and said the attack was a "pitiless" act following months of sexual exploitation. She added that Nicholson had seen Lucy as a threat to his comfortable life, fearing she would expose him as a paedophile.

The court heard that Nicholson had first raped Lucy, then aged 12, in May 2017 and had encouraged her "crush" on him. He later decided she "had become a serious object to his comfortable life and there was a real threat of her outing him as a paedophile."

Mrs Justice May also criticized social services for failing to act on concerns raised by teachers about Nicholson's behaviour. She said the obvious question was "how could social services have arrived at that conclusion, not once but twice?"

Southampton City Council declined to comment on the case, but a serious case review into the reports made to its social services department is underway.

Nicholson was also found guilty of sexual activity with another girl, aged 14, in 2012. He was cleared of one count of sexual activity with a child relating to Lucy after she had turned 13.

The court heard that Nicholson had a "difficult" upbringing, having been placed in a children's home from the age of 13. He had also been detained in 2009 for taking staff and residents of a Southampton children's home hostage.

Nicholson was linked to the murder via DNA evidence found on clothing discarded in woodland about a mile from the murder scene.

Lucy's mother and father submitted victim impact statements to the court.

Stephen Nicholson's photo

Offender ID: Stephen-Nicholson-19072019

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