A Leeds man who attacked his wife with a hammer and strangled her to death has been jailed for life

55 year old Mark Barrott will spend at least 21 years in prison

Mum-of-two Eileen Barrott
Author: Katie LyonsPublished 8th Aug 2022
Last updated 8th Aug 2022

A man who murdered his wife at their home in Leeds has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years.

Eileen Barrott, aged 50, was found unresponsive by her adult son at the couple’s home in Naburn Fold, Whinmoor, at about 6.30pm on Sunday, August 15, last year. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

A post-mortem examination later confirmed she had been attacked with a hammer and strangled.

Eileen had worked as a staff nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust since 1996, most recently at St James’s Hospital.

As detectives looked into the couple’s background with family, friends and work colleagues, they built up a picture of Mark Barrott as someone who was jealous and controlling.

When Eileen worked late, he would go there demanding to know where she was. He would turn up unannounced when she was out socialising and cause a scene, being confrontational with her friends and colleagues.

A murder investigation was launched by detectives from West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiry Team and her husband Mark was immediately identified as the suspect.

It was quickly established that Barrott, aged 54, had driven his car into Leeds earlier that day before taking a taxi to the main train station and then boarded a train to Scotland.

Enquiries showed him arriving at Edinburgh Waverley station at 4pm, and a media appeal was circulated with support from Police Scotland to ask for the public’s help to locate him.

He regularly tracked her movements, both physically by stalking her but also electronically using a mobile phone and a tracking device hidden in her handbag. He would check her mobile phone and delete contacts that he didn’t approve of.

Eileen had never reported any incidents to the police.

Barrott, now aged 55, had admitted manslaughter but denied her murder on grounds of diminished responsibility due to mental illness.

But after a two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court he was convicted of her murder.

Mark Barrott will spend at least 21 years in prison

In a family statement, released after sentencing, Eileen’s family, said:

“Eileen Barrott's parents (Dinos Constantinou and Lita Hopkins) and her children; Joel Barrott (21) and Carita Barrott (23), would like to thank the Jury for deliberating on their verdict and we are pleased that they found Mark Barrott (55), father of both Carita and Joel Barrott, ‘Guilty' for the murder on 15 August 2021, of his wife and our mother, Eileen Barrott (50).

“We thank West Yorkshire Police for their hard work to find Mark Barrott in a monastery in Elgin, north Scotland, where he hid using an alias of 'John Connelly' to escape justice for Eileen's murder. In particular, we thank our Police Liaison Officer for keeping us informed of all developments of the case in a timely manner and being very supportive throughout.

“We, Eileen's children and her parents, thank the court staff for ensuring the smooth running of the court and the Judge for showing a lot of consideration for all the people who attended.

Finally, we thank Eileen's friends and colleagues who gave us so much support throughout the period leading up to Mark Barrott's conviction. We thank all the witnesses for their courage to give evidence in court."

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