A man who murdered his former girlfriend, stabbing her more than 75 times, has been jailed for at least 26 years.

Joshua Stimpson killed 23-year-old Molly McLaren in a shopping centre car park in Kent, last year, two weeks after she ended their relationship.

Stimpson, 26, had twice been warned by police to stay away from McLaren before he attacked her with a kitchen knife as she sat in her car at the Dockside shopping centre in Chatham on 29 June 2017.

He had pleaded guilty to diminished responsibility manslaughter and denied murder. On Tuesday a jury at Maidstone crown court took less than four hours to convict the warehouse worker of murder.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Molly McLaren. Her family’s grief and anguish was raw, said the judge at Maidstone crown court. Photograph: Kent Police/PA

Sentencing him the same day, Judge Adele Williams told him that he might never be released. “This was a cruel, calculated and cowardly act,” she said. “This was an act of wickedness. You took away Molly’s life quite deliberately in the most vicious fashion. You were determined to punish her for ending the relationship with you. You were seeking revenge. She was 23 years old, beautiful and intelligent. Her family’s grief and anguish is raw and apparent for everyone to see.”

Williams said she was certain Stimpson was not suffering from a personality disorder, adding: “You are a highly dangerous young man and you will pose a very considerable risk to women for a very considerable period in the future.”

McLaren, a university student, met Stimpson through the social app Tinder, in July 2016. Shortly after they split up he began posting messages on Facebook saying she had been taking drugs. McLaren told friends in social media messages that she was scared of him and went with her mother, Joanna, to North Kent police station. A police officer called Stimpson in their presence and warned him to stop or face prosecution. He was spoken to by police for a second time just two days before murdering McLaren.

Stimpson, of Wouldham, near Rochester, showed no emotion as the verdict was read out. McLaren’s family wept as they sat in the packed public gallery. In a statement they said the verdict had brought them some relief but added: “We are serving a lifetime of pain, anguish and loss.”



Like Williams, they praised Benjamin Morton, a passerby who had tried to save McLaren.

The professional standards department of Kent police is due to review the force’s conduct in the matter. Alexandra Dale, who dated Stimpson in 2013, had also told police of his behaviour towards her.