Postman who killed Sheffield mother in "unrelenting avalanche of violence" jailed for life

A man who killed a woman outside his home in Sheffield and hid her body for 11 days has been jailed for life.

WARNING: This article contains details some readers may find disturbing

Mark Nicholls attacked mother-of-three Emily Sanderson in May, before wrapping up her body and hiding it in his house.

Jailing Nicholls for life on Friday, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said it was a "ferociously violent attack on a defenceless woman" and added: "There was an unrelenting avalanche of violence visited upon her."

Sheffield Crown Court was played a recording of the mother-of-three's call to a cab firm which is interrupted by a muffled scream and Nicholls saying "robbing bitch" before a series of dull thuds are heard and the operator ends the call.

Nicholls, who admitted Ms Sanderson's murder, showed little emotion as he sat in the dock listening to the recording with many of his victim's family and friends in the packed courtroom looking on.

Some family members left court while the audio was played.

Sam Green KC, prosecuting, said Ms Sanderson worked as an escort and the defendant was one of her clients.

Mr Green said that the morning after the killing at his home in Crofton Avenue, in the Hillsborough area of Sheffield on the evening of May 19, Nicholls took an early train to Malton in North Yorkshire.

The prosecutor said the defendant was captured on CCTV drinking in pubs and a restaurant in the town with a female companion.

Ms Sanderson's family reported her missing on May 25 and her body was found after police broke into Nicholls' house on May 30.

The defendant's next door neighbour reported that he had seen Nicholls digging in the garden days before and Judge Richardson said he had no doubt the defendant had been planning to bury the body.

Jamie Hill KC, defending, said Nicholls' recollection of the incident is tainted by his consumption of alcohol and crack cocaine.

Ordering that Nicholls serve a minimum of 17 and a half years before he is considered for release, a visibly angry Judge Richardson said: "This was a truly wicked act."

He said: "You perpetrated a brutal murder of a young woman. You repeatedly bludgeoned her with determined ferocity."

The judge noted how the recording played to the court showed that Ms Sanderson was acting perfectly normally until the attack began.

He said: "I do not accept that she acted in any way violently towards you."

And he went on: "There's no one ounce of justification or legitimate explanation for what you did."

Nicholls, who sat in the dock with a security guard and wore a grey jacket over a white open-neck shirt, admitted murder at a previous hearing.

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