A MAN has been jailed for life after being convicted of murdering a Flintshire woman he met on an internet dating site.
Trevor Ferguson must serve a minimum prison term of 17 years before he can apply for parole.
Judge John Rogers QC told Ferguson, 49, he had shown victim Karen McGraw from Connah’s Quay no mercy as he stabbed her three times.
“You ended her life simply because she refused to take you back into her home,” he said.
The jury took three and three-quarter hours to reach their unanimous guilty verdict on murder, and rejected Ferguson’s claims that he had been provoked.
Ferguson of Sale, Manchester showed no emotion when the verdict was returned.
He and Miss McGraw lived together in her house on Tecwyn Drive for the first half of this year and initially it was a loving relationship, the judge said.
On her 50th birthday on May 14 Ferguson assaulted her and damaged her property and on July 3 was given a conditional discharge by Wrexham magistrates.
“Thereafter, the relationship deteriorated further, and eventually you were removed from her house by the police on July 22,” the judge said.
“But you tried to persuade her to allow you to return. She refused. You resented that refusal and you decided to take your revenge.”
The judge added: “On the evening of July 23 you armed yourself with a knife and you forced your way into her home.
"She unsuccessfully tried to escape. You eventually caught her in the rear garden of her home.
“There, you stabbed her three times to the left side of her chest and abdomen.”
Judge Rogers said Karen McGraw was a mother, grandmother and a valued member of her community.
“No sentence of this court can in any way compensate for the loss of her life or console her family and her friends,” he said.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is carrying out an investigation into the role of the police following Miss McGraw’s repeated calls for help.
But the judge said the court had heard from members of North Wales Police, Flintshire Council and other agencies which provided support for such women.
He added: “In this case, I wish to commend all of those services. The response of all of those concerned was prompt and professional.”
Outside the court, daughter Kimberley McGraw read a statement on behalf of the family in which she said: “On Thursday, July 23, our lives were devastated when our mum Karen was brutally murdered at her home address in Connah’s Quay. Words cannot describe how we felt on that dreadful day.
“Her unexpected, tragic and violent death at the hands of Trevor Ferguson leaves four children, Kimberley, Hayley, Caohme and Wayne, and three grandchilldren.
“Mum will not have the chance that every grandmother should have, in seeing her grandchildren grow up and have the opportunity to be part of their lives.”