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A teenager obsessed with TV serial killer Dexter was jailed today for the murder of his 17-year-old girlfriend, who he ferociously stabbed before dismembering her body in a "blood-curdling" killing.

Steven Miles, who was 16 at the time of the murder, killed Elizabeth Thomas in the bedroom of his home in Oxted, Surrey on January 24 this year.

Having stabbed her in the head and back, he went on to dismember her legs and an arm, wrapped the limbs in clingfilm and placed them in bin bags, before covering her body in a green plastic garden sheet.

Miles, now 17, has been jailed for 25 years.

The teenage politics student used saws and tools from his father's tree surgeon business to cut up Elizabeth's body.

(Image: INS News Agency)

The boy, who had been diagnosed as having an autistic syndrome, told his family that he had an alter ego called Ed who had instructed him to kill someone.

When the defendant's sister returned home to the flat about an hour after the murder, Miles told her: "Ed made me do something bad."

During the sentencing hearing at Guildford Crown Court, the court heard that Miles had a fascination with horror movies and the macabre and had wanted to emulate the actions of Dexter - the lead character of an American TV series about a police forensics officer who is also a serial killer.

Judge Christopher Critchlow told Miles: "This is a case of the utmost gravity, the horrific features of which are rarely heard in any court.

"Nothing this court can say or do, no sentence this court can impose can alleviate the pain suffered by Elizabeth Thomas' family for death in such a terrible manner. There must be a life sentence."

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Girlfriend killed and dismembered by Dexter-obsessed teen told friends she would ''fight'' for relationship

At the start of the hearing, the judge warned the court that the case involved details that "are extremely unpleasant and may cause considerable distress to anyone listening", and advised anyone of a nervous disposition to leave.

He said that the killing was predetermined and he would have given a whole life term if the defendant had been an adult but as a child he was not allowed to pass that sentence.

He said eminent psychiatrists had agreed that Miles was not schizophrenic and therefore did not have a defence of diminished responsibility.

The teenager, wearing a white shirt and black tie, stared straight ahead during the hearing and showed no emotion as the sentence was passed.

Speaking of the impact on Elizabeth's family, Judge Critchlow said: "It's hard for this court to remain unemotional.

"Their lives have been changed forever, it's difficult to find the right words to describe the enormity of what you did to an innocent girl of 17-and-a-half."

(Image: INS News Agency)

He continued: "You decided at the age of 16 you had to kill somebody, you chose Elizabeth Thomas who tragically befriended you and who had stood up for you when people described you as different."

Prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC said that Elizabeth's friends had asked her why she bothered with him and the difficulties he presented because of his autism, she replied: "I am different from other females, I am fighting for him."

Judge Critchlow said: "It's chilling to read that you described her on occasion as your project."

Lewis Power QC, defending Miles, described the murder as a "chilling, blood-curdling and sustained" killing inspired by the TV series Dexter.

He said: "This was a truly gruesome killing ripped from the pages of a hit TV script. The evidence points to the defendant trying to emulate the actions of the character Dexter who he idolised.

"The case is a sad testament to the perils of how young people can become entrenched in modern TV blockbusters involving violence which shockingly led to a copy-cat killing in real life."

He said that the "phenomenon" of Ed was not "fully understood" by psychiatrists but they agreed that the defendant was not psychotic.

(Image: INS News Agency)

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Elizabeth's mother Alison described how the family had found her death "difficult to accept" and how she was now placing "flowers on her grave when I should be putting them in her hair".

It says: "Elizabeth was very family orientated, she would spend a lot of her time at home chatting about all sorts of stuff, she was a great talker.

"She would spend time with her grandma and phone and visit her often. Elizabeth was mature beyond her years and was at the stage of her life that she was becoming comfortable with whom she was; we were so proud of her.

"Elizabeth would have been celebrating her 18th birthday on the 8th September; it should have been a day of celebration.

"We have no further milestones to look forward to, no A-level results, driving lessons and university applications. Our sadness will last forever."

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