Logan Burnett, of All Saints Road, Ipswich, jailed for life for murder of Courtney Mitchell in Burrell Road

A 27-year-old man who stabbed to death a mum-of-three in a ‘cold and deliberate’ attack in front of her friends has been jailed for life.

Logan Burnett, of All Saints Road, Ipswich, was handed a minimum 23-and-a-half year prison sentence by Judge Martyn Levett at Ipswich Crown Court today for the murder of his former partner, 26-year-old Courtney Mitchell, in Ipswich, on August 6.

He had admitted the murder charge, alongside two others of possessing an offensive weapon, at Ipswich Crown Court on November 25.

At the time of the attack, Burnett was on bail with a condition not to contact Courtney after a previous incident of criminal damage at her home.

Judge Levett, handing down the prison term, said: “It was effectively a personal execution of Courtney Mitchell.

“You are a violent, controlling and jealous individual. Courtney challenged your control by leaving you and you could not stand that.”

Emergency services were called to Burrell Road shortly after 7.10pm on Tuesday, August 6, after reports a woman had been stabbed.

Officers attended and found Courtney with serious injuries and she died a short time later in hospital.

Burnett had 24 previous convictions for 52 offences, beginning in 2011 when he was 14 years old.

The court heard how one of the knives, which were shown to Judge Levett in court, used in the stabbing was bent by the force of the attack.

Riel Karmy-Jones KC, prosecuting, argued to the court the attack was motivated by Burnett’s jealousy as Courtney now had a new partner, Scott Alderton.

The relationship ‘of sorts’ between the assailant and the victim had ended around a month before the attack, but they remained in some contact.

The hearing was told Burnett, who had taken the drug spice on the night of August 5, bragged about having two knives to a housemate at his All Saints Road address, while he also said he would be ‘Facebook and news famous by the end of the day’.

He had previously threatened to kill Courtney if she spoke to another man, the hearing was told.

The court heard Burnett went on a Facebook tirade against Courtney the night before the stabbing, which he was asked to take down numerous time by several different people.

On the day of the stabbing, Burnett, in a five hour period, attempted to call both Courtney and her new boyfriend Scott 22 times each respectively.

Courtney and her friends had been out in Ipswich for the day on August 6, shopping and drinking.

Ms Karmy-Jones described how, moments before the attack, Courtney’s friends recognised Burnett and told her to run.

The prosecution said Burnett chased her in Burrell Road, pinned her to some fencing and stabbed her.

A passer-by referenced by Ms Karmy-Jones said the attack ‘did not look frenzied, it looked cold and deliberate’.

Another eyewitness, mentioned by the prosecution, saw Burnett over Courtney and called out to him. Burnett turned to the witness with the knife in hand, before turning back and continuing the attack.

Eventually, Burnett ran off, and Courtney collapsed into the arms of the eyewitness and said ‘I’ve been stabbed, I’m going to die’.

Her friends caught up and attempted to perform CPR while waiting for the emergency services.

After being arrested and while at Martlesham Police Investigation Centre, the prosecution said Burnett questioned why the process was taking so long and he would be happy to admit to the murder so he could be back in a prison cell.

At the time of her death, Courtney’s three children were aged nine, five and two years old.

Courtney’s mother, Samantha Mitchell, father, William Hutchinson, and sisters Tara Rudd and Charlie Mitchell read victim impact statements to the court.

Samantha said: “Anyone that knows me knows that my kids and grandkids are my whole world.

“Courtney was my little girl, and my whole world was shattered into a million pieces.”

She further described how the family had to identify Courtney’s body on the day of her birthday, saying they brought cakes and cards to the mortuary.

Charlie detailed how she has had to delay an operation for a long-term health problem as she is now afraid of the operation, and Courtney had promised to be there by her side when she woke up.

“She really was my best friend, and I hers,” she said.

Christopher Paxton KC, in mitigation, said the defence did not wish to diminish the severity of the crime, nor the suffering experienced by Courtney’s family.

He highlighted Burnett’s early guilty plea, mental health conditions and relatively young age as factors for reducing his sentence.

He said the admission of the murder at the earliest opportunity was a sign of Burnett’s genuine remorse.

Judge Levett accepted the guilty plea for mitigation but dismissed the mental health and age claims. This reduced Burnett’s sentence from one of 29 years to 24, which was then reduced by 192 days for time already served in custody.