A convicted rapist who murdered a young barmaid in a sadistic and sexually motivated attack after she told him she did not want a relationship has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 33 years. Michael Doherty, 38, left Courtney Angus, 21, with 76 injuries before taking indecent images of her and sexually humiliating her in every way he could imagine at his home in Batley, West Yorkshire, in July last year.
Attack and Confession
After the murder, Doherty prowled the nearby streets waving a large knife and entered an Asda supermarket, threatening to stab staff. As he was being arrested, he told officers: 'I've got a dead body in my house.' Doherty, who changed his name from Michael Moore in 2018, has a history of violence towards women who reject him, with convictions for raping a stranger on the way home from a nightclub and torching a former partner's car.
Court Proceedings
Leeds Crown Court heard that Ms Angus had moved into his house days before her death but was not his partner and was clear that she did not want a relationship. Prosecutor Craig Hassall said Doherty made it clear he liked her and texted her threatening to kill himself on the day of the murder. The court heard that Doherty sexually attacked Ms Angus during a drug-fuelled assault, cut off parts of her body, and callously left them on his mantelpiece. A pathologist found that the cause of her death was pressure on the neck from strangling, coupled with head injuries from blunt force trauma.
Victim Impact
In a statement, Ms Angus's mother, Diane Angus, said: 'Losing my daughter has left a space in my heart that nothing can fill. I carry her with me in every thought, every breath, every moment. I wish I could hold her again.' A statement from her sister Chloe said: 'How could someone hurt a young, vulnerable woman in the way that he did? Courtney had her whole life ahead of her, she had just turned 21. She was loved deeply by everyone around her.'
Sentencing
Jailing Doherty for life with a minimum term of 33 years, Judge Guy Kearl, the Recorder of Leeds, said: 'You have, by your actions, changed the lives of all of those who knew (Courtney Angus) forever, in particular, her family. But worse than that, you took her life in a senseless rage, as I find, after she had rejected you.' The judge noted that Doherty had a history of violent reactions to female rejection and that he had sexually humiliated Ms Angus in every way imaginable.
