'Monster' teenager gets life in jail for stabbing babysitting girlfriend to death on Boxing Day

 
1/2
25 July 2012
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A teenager who stabbed his girlfriend to death on Boxing Day as she babysat two young children was jailed for life with a minimum 25-year term today, Hertfordshire Police said.

Tony Bushby, 19, murdered art student Catherine Wynter, 19, known as Katy, and left her slumped against the fridge in the kitchen of her sister's home.

A post-mortem examination showed she had 23 separate wounds on her body and 13 serious stab injuries - some on her hands as she tried to shield herself.

After the attack Bushby, of Digswell Close, Borehamwood, went to his nearby home with blood on his clothes and hands.

He was convicted by a jury of eight women and four men at St Albans Crown Court.

Miss Wynter was found in a pool of blood by her mother, Joy Davis.

The children, aged three and four at the time, ran down the stairs as Ms Davis arrived and told her: "Grandma, Grandma, Katy's dead."

Bushby left the victim's body in the house overnight with the youngsters.

The pair met at West Hertfordshire College and often communicated on Facebook.

Bushby blamed the murder on one of four friends on the social networking site.

But detectives discovered he invented the profiles to fool Miss Wynter in a "malicious web of deception".

He used the bogus profiles to send the victim flattering messages about himself and to make it appear she was communicating directly with his friends.

Detective Inspector Carl Foster said: "Bushby planned his attack on Katie and fabricated a story to try and cover his tracks.

"He had created a fantasy world around him, unbeknown to Katie, who was totally innocent to what was going on.

"He has taken the life of a young girl in a most brutal way.

"He is a dangerous man and it is right that the jury have seen through his lies and convicted him of murder.

"Whilst the sentence passed reflects the severity of his actions, nothing will bring Katie back to her family. Our thoughts are with them at this time."

Miss Wynter's family described her as "one in a million" and Bushby as "pure evil".

In a statement they said: "Katie was a loving daughter, sister and auntie and we are all so very proud of her.

"The last few months have been unbearable; losing her has left a hole in our lives which can never be filled.

"Katie had so many friends and everyone who knew her knew just how wonderful and unique she was.

"There aren't enough words to describe what she meant to us and what kind of person she was but she was bright, bubbly, talented and intelligent.

"She was respectful and kind to anyone she met, she never lost her temper and for those who knew her we are confident you would have felt honoured.

"She was one in a million and is irreplaceable.

"Katie had such a bright future which was brutally taken away from her for no reason.

"We will never forgive this monster for what he has done, he is pure evil.

"We question every day how he could have done what he did to our beautiful Katie and knowing that there were children in the house.

"His sentence is nothing less than he deserves, however at the end of it he will have his life.

"Not only do we struggle to get through every day without her, he has ruined every Christmas for our family in the future as well.

"We as a family have been given a life sentence by him."

Baljit Ubhey, chief crown prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The Crown Prosecution Service praises the strength and courage of Katie's family who sat through the trial and listened to the horrific details of how Katie was killed while babysitting at a relative's home in Borehamwood last Christmas by her so-called boyfriend.

"As a result of the hard work and diligence of the prosecution team, a just outcome has been achieved for the victim and her family.

"We hope that the conviction and sentence will in some way help the family come to terms with this tragic event and move forward with their lives.

"Bushby has today been sentenced to life imprisonment and is to serve a minimum term of 25 years. However, no matter how long the prison sentence is, we acknowledge that nothing can make up for the loss felt by the family and friends of Katie.

"Our thoughts are very much with them at this time."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in