A DOUBLE killer who launched a savage attack on his partner then murdered the mother of his three children minutes later has been jailed for at least 32 years.
Alan Bennett, 34, who had a history of domestic violence, called police after he stabbed Lynne Freeman, 46, in the neck in Redcar on March 23.
READ MORE: Man found guilty of murder of girlfriend's 13-month-old son
Just seven minutes later, Cleveland Police received a second call from members of the public to say Jodie Betteridge, 30, had been repeatedly stabbed less than a mile away.
Bennett was given two life sentences with a minimum term of 32 years and 233 days at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday after admitting the two murders.
As he was led from the dock after sentencing, a grieving relative shouted 'I hope you rot'.
Bennett was arrested at the horrific murder scene in Byland Close, where he had attacked Ms Betteridge.
Police and paramedics were already at the scene in Mapleton Crescent, where he had killed Ms Freeman.
Bennett, from Lingholme in Redcar, called for an ambulance to go to Ms Freeman's bungalow at 8.45pm that night.
He had been drinking with her in Redcar that day and they had visited a number of pubs.
Around 8pm Bennett and Ms Freeman took a number 63 bus which dropped them near her home. During the journey witnesses heard a furious argument.
Bennett was heard to raise his voice several times and the row continued as they made their way towards Mapleton Crescent.
After they arrived Bennett stabbed her a number of times in the upper body and neck.
He then made his way to murder Ms Betteridge, who had spent most of the day with their children, aged four, six and nine.
Bennett and Ms Betteridge were in a relationship from 2005 to 2014 and they had three children, who lived with her.
Early last year he started a relationship with Ms Freeman although he had known her for some time.
READ MORE: Man found guilty of murder of girlfriend's 13-month-old son
They did not live together but were often with each other, frequently staying over at their respective addresses.
Andrew Robertson QC, prosecuting, said: "Both women were stabbed to death with an unequivocal intent to kill."
The court heard that, after drinking with Ms Freeman, Bennett became "aggressive and confrontational".
During the row, a friend of hers saw him push Ms Freeman to the ground.
When the friend told him "There's no need for that", Bennett grabbed the witness and, apparently referring to his ex-partner Ms Betteridge, said: "You don't know what's f****** happened. I've lost my kids, I'm not allowed to see them. I'll f****** kill her."
The couple sat on opposite sides of the bus on the way home, the court heard.
Bennett made threats to Ms Freeman, telling her: "I will get your attention when we are home."
Once there, he inflicted four stab wounds to her neck and nine other sharp force injuries to the neck and chest.
She was first attacked on the sofa and then on the floor.
Bennett then left to attack Ms Betteridge in front of their children, starting the brutal assault inside and continuing it in the front garden.
He inflicted 132 "sharp force injuries", Mr Robertson said.
Two of those were significant enough to kill.
Mr Robertson said 30 were to the head and Ms Betteridge would have been significantly disfigured if she had lived.
The knife used to kill both women snapped during the second murder.
Mr Robertson said: "The next-door neighbours heard screaming and shouting. They looked out and saw the defendant strike the deceased in the front garden.
"The children of the defendant and the deceased were standing and screaming near their mother."
When the neighbour challenged Bennett, he told her to call the police.
She said later: "The defendant was constantly stabbing Jodie like a crazed maniac."
Police arrived quickly and Bennett told officers: "I have done what had to be done."
He later told detectives he could not remember killing either woman.
He had previous convictions for attacking someone with a bottle in 2002 and battery in 2012.
Tim Roberts QC, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty at the first reasonable opportunity.
READ MORE: Man found guilty of murder of girlfriend's 13-month-old son
Bennett had a mental illness, he said, but it was not severe enough to allow him to claim a defence of diminished responsibility.
Mr Roberts added: "He has not had the normal capacity of self-restraint which a healthy individual would possess."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article