'Promising' Stoke City youth player, 18, jailed for life after he admits murdering girlfriend, 15, by stabbing her 60 TIMES at a house party



Midfielder Andrew Hall, 18, admits killing Megan-Leigh Peat, 15, at a house party after she had been on a night out



Megan, who dreamed of training to become a midwife, was knifed to death in 'ferocious attack' and found covered in blood



'She was bubbly and popular and she stuck up for everyone,' friend says

Hall was on the brink of becoming a professional footballer but was 'jealous of her innocent friendship with others'



A 'jealous' Premier League footballer was today given a life sentence after admitted butchering his 15-year-old girlfriend - stabbing her a staggering sixty times.



Andrew Hall, 18, who played for Stoke City's academy, pleaded guilty to murdering Megan-Leigh Peat at a house in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, on June 9 this year.



Megan was found stabbed at the house after emergency services were called in the early hours.

The pupil at Harlington Upper School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, was covered in blood lying on the floor with dozens of stab wounds.



Arrest: Andrew Hall, 18, who plays for Stoke City's under 18 team, has been charged with the murder of Megan-Leigh Peat, 15, right, who was stabbed to death at a house party in Ampthill, Bedfordshire



Murdered scene: The semi-detached home in Bedordshire where Hall butchered Megan after she returned from a night out in June this year

Hall relentlessly stabbed her 60 times in the head, neck and upper chest. Two knives, including a serrated bread knife, were found next to her body.

Judge Richard Foster gave Hall a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years at Luton Crown Court today.

Shockingly, the court heard Hall attacked his girlfriend after mistaking her friendship with another man for an affair, despite her protesting her innocence.

Sentencing the killer at Luton Crown Court, Judge Richard Foster said Hall had 'cruelly' robbed Megan of her life and 'thrown away' his promising soccer career.

The judge said: 'Megan was a bright, normal, gregarious 15-year-old with her whole life ahead of her.

'You so cruelly took that life. She will never experience the thrill of successful exam results and further education, bring bridesmaid at her best friends wedding or her 18th birthday party.

"You brought her life to an end at the tender age of 15.

'It is clear that you were jealous of her seemingly innocent friendship with others. Megan talked about you accusing her of cheating on you.

'In a text message to a friend she said: 'I love him more than anything, but I can't deal with it anymore.

'In a text message to you she wrote: 'You do not trust me so what is the point in being together?

'She said 'I'm scared' to a friend. It was a vicious and relentless attack by you stabbing Megan some 60 times.'

Bright future: Megan wanted to train as a midwife. She was 'popular' and 'bubbly' with many friends

He added: 'I accept the murder was not premeditated. You have thrown away a promising career as a professional footballer.

'Remorse is an over used word in this court, but clearly in this case it is an appropriate word to use.'



He said to Megan's family: 'I hope today's events and finality of the criminal proceedings will bring some comfort to the family and friends of Megan and at least be the start of a very long healing process.'



Megan's family sat in the empty jury box and had tears in their eyes throughout the hearing.

In a statement released by her family, they said: 'Today we are satisfied that Andrew Hall has pleaded guilty to this offence. The day Megan died will be forever etched in our memories, it was the day our lives were torn apart.

'Megan was a healthy, vibrant, loving and caring person who was very much loved by all her family and all her many friends. She had her whole life ahead of her.

'Before her untimely death we were an ordinary family leading an ordinary life. Since that fateful day our world has changed beyond recognition.

'The pain of losing our beautiful daughter and the tragic and awful way she died will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Megan was loved so much and will be missed forever.

'We would like to thank all Police forces involved for their support, especially our family liaison team.'



Luton Crown Court heard Hall stabbed Megan as many as 60 times with a 19.5cm bread knife - found with a broken handle - and a 14.5cm fish knife he got from the kitchen at a friend's house close to the pub where they had been drinking with friends.

Drunk Hall was more than two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit when he launched into the attack, stabbing his young girlfriend in the head- and severing her nose. Iain Wicks, prosecuting, told the court Megan's jugular artery was found severed, her jaw fractured and she had deep chest wounds into her lungs.



Slash wounds on her arms suggested she had been trying to defend herself from the onslaught, which was so frenzied police found indents in the laminate floor where Hall had plunged the knives.



The sportsman, who was on the brink of signing a professional contract with Stoke, had been spotted rowing with Megan the night she died.

Grief: Friends of 15-year-old Megan-Leigh Peat arrive to lay floral tributes at the scene of her death

Sad: A friend of Megan lays flowers for her outside the house where she was stabbed

