Mum of murdered Northumberland teenager calls for domestic abuse education in schools

The mum of a Northumberland teenager who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend is calling for domestic abuse education for young people.

15-year-old Holly Newton was stabbed to death in Hexham by Logan MacPhail in January 2023 after he would not accept that their 18-month relationship was over.

Holly's mum, Micala Trussler, is urging people to look out for the signs of domestic abuse.

She said: "We originally set up ‘Holly’s Hope’ to raise money for bleed boxes in the community. Now that it's out there that this was a domestic abuse case, we are raising money to build an educational package to go into schools with.

"Young people just don't know the signs of domestic abuse, it's not taught in schools.

"At the minute Holly’s case sits in the knife crime category and it's so much more than that. We would like Holly's case to be put down as domestic abuse so lessons can be learnt from Holly’s death.

"Control, emotional abuse, psychological abuse. She suffered all of those and then at the very end, the stalking as well.

"We feel like if she'd been aware of what was normal in a relationship and what wasn't, she could have gone out to seek help earlier.

"At the minute it's only recognised that over-16s can be a victim of domestic abuse. We’re petitioning for that to change because Holly's case has proven that it can happen to anyone.

"We need to safeguard children and that is a major point. I think there's more than Holly just going through this. Children are having relationships younger, and they do need that support."

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