August 2023

Violent sex offender jailed for life for murder of woman

The callous killer who stabbed Blackburn mum Charlotte Wilcock to death while her daughter slept upstairs has been jailed for life.

Anthony Stinson, 31, must serve a minimum of 24 years and two months before he can apply for parole and may never be released from prison.

Charlotte, 31, was smoking a cigarette on her front doorstep when Stinson launched a savage attack on her on March 3, 2023. Her baby daughter was alone upstairs.

She had never met him before and had no connection to him.

The following morning, Charlotte was found dead in the hallway of her home in Primrose Hill, Blackburn. She had suffered 100 separate injuries after being punched, kicked, stabbed and slashed at by Stinson.

The killer, who has previously served a prison sentence for rape, claimed he was mentally ill and had seen the Devil before attacking Charlotte. But officers investigating the case discovered Stinson showed no sign of mental illness when he recorded a violent rap video an hour before the attack.

In the chilling video, found on Stinson’s mobile phone, he spoke of violence and killing. Just 15 minutes before he encountered Charlotte, he was speaking calmly to a shopkeeper as he bought cigarettes and alcohol.

No motive has been established for Charlotte’s murder, which The Honorary Recorder of Preston said was: “A sustained attack with considerable suffering”

At his sentence hearing, the court heard he has 11 previous convictions for 25 offences including rape, ABH and criminal damage. Many of those crimes were against women.

In 2010, Stinson assaulted an ex partner at her home by pushing, grabbing and spitting at her, after entering her flat through a window.

In 2013, he raped a teenager at a house party in Clitheroe. He admitted abusing the girl while she slept and was jailed for five years.

In April 2019 he was handed a suspended sentence for two attacks on his ex partner within days of each other. On both occasions he strangled the woman, and during the second attack, Stinson put a pillow over her face, saying: “I swear to God, I could happily bury you.” The victim said she thought she was going to die.

Stinson admitted he had been drinking and taking drugs when he attacked his partner in 2019 and was ordered to take part in rehabilitation to address his offending. He remained under supervision until his arrest for Charlotte’s murder in March 2023.

Throughout the hearing, Stinson sat expressionless in the dock, flanked by security guards. Members of Charlotte’s family packed the public gallery to see the man who killed the much loved mum-of-two brought to justice.