Neville Hord murdered Jodie Willsher, the daughter of his ex-partner, at store in Skipton

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A man has been sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for stabbing the daughter of his former partner to death in a “cold-blooded public execution” in an Aldi store.

Neville Hord, 44, admitted murdering Jodie Willsher in front of shoppers in an attack the judge said was planned to cause “the maximum pain, horror, shock and trauma”.

Hord was the former partner of Willsher’s mother, Nicole Dinsdale, and the motive was revenge, Bradford crown court heard on Thursday.

Willsher, 30, sustained multiple injuries when she was attacked in the supermarket where she worked in Skipton, North Yorkshire, on 21 December.

The court heard children were among the witnesses to the attack, as customers rushed to pin down and detain Hord before the emergency services arrived.



Peter Moulson QC, prosecuting, said it was a “cold-blooded public execution perpetrated for the purpose of revenge”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jodie Willsher’s death left ‘a great hole in our lives’, said her husband, Malcolm. Photograph: Handout/PA

Hord’s relationship with Dinsdale broke down in November and prosecutors said he blamed this on Willsher.

Detectives discovered that while planning the attack, Hord had fitted a GPS tracking device to Willsher’s car and made inquiries about buying a gun.

The Crown Prosecution Service said he “researched his attack extensively on the internet” and had a knife, axe and crossbow on the day it took place.

Sentencing Hord to a minimum of 30 years in prison, the judge, Jonathan Durham Hall QC, told him he was “truly and horribly rotten to the core” and it was highly likely he would never be released.

“You chose a time and a place to, in effect, execute; to kill; to murder,” the judge told Hord, adding that he had “sentenced her, in your mind, to death”.

In a statement read to the court, Willsher’s husband, Malcolm, said his life and that of his five-year-old daughter, Megan, had been ripped apart.

He said mother and daughter had an “unbreakable bond” and Megan had told him: “I hate you Daddy for not bringing Mummy back.”

He said their daughter had been looking forward to opening her Christmas presents with her mother and the family had a trip to Disneyland planned for Boxing Day. “I’m so scared he’ll get out and do something to Megan,” Malcolm Willsher said.

Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Skipton for Jodie Willsher’s funeral in January. In a eulogy read to the congregation, Malcolm Willsher said her death had left a “great hole in our lives” and she and Megan were “more than mother and daughter; they were best friends”.

During an earlier court hearing, Hord’s family passed a statement to the media that said: “Neville’s family wish to express our sincere condolences to Jodie’s family at what should have been a time of joy and happiness for them. No words can convey our sorrow for this tragic turn of events.”

Colin Breslin, a regional managing director at Aldi, said Willsher was a “much-loved and popular colleague”, and staff were all deeply shocked and saddened by her death.