Duffield deaths: man jailed for murdering his wife and new partner

A man has been jailed for life for murdering his wife and new partner on New Year’s Day.

Derby Crown Court heard that Helen Hancock, 39, and Martin Griffiths, 48, suffered 103 injuries when they were stabbed at their home in Duffield, Derbyshire.

A paramedic said it was “the most violent incident he had ever seen,” the court was told.

Rhys Hancock, 40, of Etwall, admitted to both murders in July and was jailed for a minimum of 31 years.

Judge Nirmal Shant described it as a “brutal attack” that had “deprived two families of the people they loved.”

The court heard how Hancock was found outside the property covered in blood and told a police officer: “I’m not going to deny it, look at me.”

The prosecution described how, after returning from the pub, Hancock had told his mother that he “felt he wanted to kill” the couple.

He took his emergency bell and landlines so he couldn’t call the police and then drove to Ms. Hancock’s home.

He had taken two knives from his mother’s kitchen.

Once there, he entered through the back door and attacked the couple in the bedroom.

He stabbed Mrs. Hancock, mother of three, 66 times and father of two, Mr. Griffiths, 37 times.

The court heard how a paramedic described the scene as a “bloodbath.”

Prosecutor Michael Auty QC said: “There is no escaping that these murders were premeditated, they were savage, the attack was ruthless, there were elements of sadism and the intention was always … and only to kill.

“Perhaps, above all, they were committed in the coldest of blood.”

However, Judge Shant concluded that she “could not be sure” that this was “sadistic or sexual” and that it would not be a life sentence, although she accepted that it was a “borderline” case.

He added: “No sentence I impose will seem adequate for [the victims’ families] and nothing I do can fill the undoubted void left by the deaths of Helen Hancock and Martin Griffiths. “