Murderous Matthew Stevens is facing a lengthy spell behind bars after making every woman's worst nightmare come horrifically true.
When his victim met him in a Newcastle city centre bar, it was through mutual friends and they ended up swapping numbers and initially got on well. But even when they ended up being asked to leave due to arguing, there was no hint of the savagery that was soon to follow.
The woman, who was drunk, told him she just wanted to go home to Gateshead but he took her in a taxi and told her she could stay at his. CCTV captured them walking together through the streets of Brunswick Village, Newcastle, towards his home, with no obvious tension between them.
Read more: Dog walker tells attempted murder trial how he found badly injured naked woman in Brunswick Village
But within minutes he was attacking her on a patch of grass next to the A1, stripping her naked, pulling off and damaging her underwear, then dragging her into a wooded area and kicking, stamping and punching her in a sustained attempt to kill her. The brute then took her jewellery as a twisted "trophy" and abandoned his barely conscious victim to the elements on a cold March night, wearing just a pair of socks.
Fortunately for her, a dog walker's attention was drawn to her around 6am when his pets showed an interest in the undergrowth where she was lying, freezing and badly injured and she was saved. Now sick Stevens, who glared towards the victim and her family in the public gallery during his trial and complained they were looking at him, has been convicted of attempted murder by a majority of 11-1.
He was further remanded in custody and will be sentenced on March 20 next year. Judge Robert Adams ordered a pre-sentence report to consider the issue of dangerousness.
Stevens, 28, met the victim, who is in her 30s, during a night out on March 10. While in Bobby's Bar, she told him to "f*** off" when he tried to dance with her and CCTV then shows them appearing to argue over something and they were asked to leave.
Having got a taxi together, CCTV then captures them walking through the streets of Brunswick Village but there is then a gap of 50 minutes before Stevens is captured walking on his own and prosecutors say in that time he subjected the woman to a sustained attack which left her badly injured.
By the time she was discovered by dog walker Steven Hillier, barely conscious in woods close to the A1, she was hypothermic - her body temperature having plummeted to just 30 degrees celsius and she had numerous injuries.
During the trial, prosecutor Gavin Doig told the jury there is body worn camera footage of the victim from the first officer on the scene and pictures of her injuries taken in hospital. He added: "These are extremely unpleasant images and I'm sorry about that."
The victim's face was "grossly swollen", she had bleeding in both eyeballs and multiple lacerations to her face, including one right through her lower lip and damage inside her mouth. She also had a laceration to her ear and her tongue, from which her piercing had come out. She also had fractures to her face, a punctured lung and a large number of scratches from being dragged through brambles.
The court heard there were two scenes of crime. At the first, the woman's clothes were found, including her damaged bra and ripped knickers - which "looked as if they had been rolled down by someone else" - as well as other clothes she had been wearing, some of her hair, blood and her phone.
Prosecutors say she was then dragged or carried to the second crime scene, in the wooded area. Mr Doig said: "The prosecution case is, having attacked her at scene one and stripped her clothing from her, he then drags or carries her to the more concealed wooded area, much further from the road and further from houses and the footpath.
"The purpose of moving her, we say, was to continue the attack and, we say, to complete the attack and thinking her body would be less likely to be found or found quickly if it was moved away from the road and in an area of waste ground near the A1."
Thanks to Mr Hillier, she was discovered within around two hours of being abandoned. He found her discarded clothing then went to investigate as his dog showed an interest in undergrowth in the wooded area.
Mr Doig said: "He looked in and heard the sound of moaning as if a person was in pain. He saw a naked woman in this wooded, brambled area. He said she turned her head towards him but her eyes were so swollen he couldn't tell if they were closed or open. She was completely naked apart from her socks."
The court heard at the second scene, her blood was on a tree trunk, the pattern of which suggested she had been stamped on while already bleeding heavily. Stevens' trainers were also said to have her blood on them, consistent with stamping and kicking into a bleeding area. There was also blood on his coat, up his sleeves, consistent with punching her when she was already bleeding.
Police also found her broken false fingernails and some of the charms from her bracelet had fallen out. They later found the bracelet and a second bracelet hidden inside a pair of socks in Stevens' wardrobe.
Mr Doig said: "We say he intended to kill and this explains his decision in leading her to a more secluded location and continuing the attack on her. That he believed he had succeeded explains why he took her jewellery and hid it in his bedroom as a trophy or memento of his crime."
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