Former David Blunkett aide strangled ex-girlfriend after he hacked her emails and learned of her new love



Martin Collett met Angela Hoyt while working at the Home office in 2005

Collett hacked Miss Hoyt's emails and impersonated her, putting her job with Red Cross at risk

He declared: 'You're going to pay for this' then strangled her while she ran a bath



Miss Hoyt reported Collett to police just days before brutal killing



Collett jumped in front of a speeding train after murder



A former aide to David Blunkett strangled his ex-girlfriend in a jealous rage then killed himself on a railway line, an inquest heard yesterday.

Debt ridden Martin Collett, 35, discovered Angela Hoyt had found love with another man after hacking into her email account.

But after the Red Cross official asked him to leave the home they shared, he attacked her while she was running a bath.

Killer: Martin Collett killed Angela Hoyt in the bathroom and then wrote a suicide note in which he said there 'wasn't a chance in hell' he would let her leave him

Holding her head under the running water, he strangled her before leaving her lifeless body slumped in the tub.

He carried on living in the house for 48 hours while Miss Hoyt lay dead upstairs, before stepping out in front of a 100mph train.

Days earlier, Miss Hoyt, 34, had warned police that her ‘obsessive’ ex-boyfriend was ‘trying to ruin her life’ but insisted to officers that she was able to sort things out ‘amicably’.

Collett had already hacked into her Facebook and email accounts and used them to send offensive messages to colleagues, family and friends.

When Miss Hoyt confronted him about the hacking, he laughed and warned her: ‘I am not some walkover. You are going to pay for this.’

Investigation: Angela Hoyt, who was found dead by police officers at her house in Glebeland in Hatfield, Hertfordshire

Victim: Angela Hoyt (left) with her twin sister Ami Watanabe

Miss Hoyt met Collett while they were both working at the Home Office. Collett had been a briefing manager for Labour home secretaries David Blunkett and Charles Clarke while she worked in the media team.

The two had an ‘on-off’ relationship and had broken up once before. Shortly before her death, Miss Hoyt had returned from working in Pakistan with the Red Cross, where she had met a new partner. She had told Collett the relationship was over for good and had asked him to leave – but he had refused. Miss Hoyt had then been shocked to discover her ex had been hacking into her email.

Her twin sister Ami said Collett had been obsessed with Miss Hoyt and had ‘gone to great lengths to terrorise her’ through his cyber-stalking.

Miss Hoyt went to Hatfield Police Station in Hertfordshire on May 20 last year to complain that he was harassing her.



Scene: The property in Hatfield, Herts, where Angela Hoyt was found dead

An officer offered to issue a warning to Collett but Miss Hoyt decided to first try to ‘sort things out amicably’ with her ex.



Four days later, Miss Hoyt’s twin sister called police from her home in Canada, saying she had not been in touch for days.

After forcing entry to her cottage in Hatfield on May 24, police found Miss Hoyt’s body. Strewn across the coffee table were emails which Collett had printed out, written by Miss Hoyt to her twin.

On a copy of one email, in which Miss Hoyt had written of her delight at finding happiness with her new partner, Collett had scrawled: ‘Unforgiveable.’

After Miss Hoyt’s body was discovered a major search was mounted for Collett. But within 24 hours he walked in front of a train just north of Hatfield railway station.

The inquest heard Collett had left the Home Office to qualify as a pilot but couldn’t get a job flying. He was also £30,000 in debt.

Hertfordshire coroner Edward Thomas recorded verdicts of unlawful killing for Miss Hoyt and suicide for Collett.