A 24-year-old man has been jailed for life after murdering an 18-year-old woman after snatching her from a bus stop. Cody Ackland appeared in Plymouth Crown Court today where details emerged for the first time about how he killed Bobbi-Anne McLeod, PlymouthLive reports.
Miss McLeod had left her home in the Leigham area of the city shortly after 6pm on November 20, 2021 to get a bus into Plymouth city centre to meet friends. Sadly, she never showed up.
Her friends raised the alarm that she was missing and Devon and Cornwall Police soon began investigating her disappearance. A mass search took place across the city in the hopes that Bobbi-Anne would be found, but sadly three days after her disappearance, officers found her body near Bovisand beach on the outskirts of the city.
Read more: Man admits murder of teenager Bobbi-Anne McLeod who was found dead in woods
Initially, two men were arrested on suspicion of murder but one man was soon released. The other, Ackland, admitted to killing the 18-year-old student during a plea and trial preparation hearing at Plymouth Crown Court on Tuesday, March 5 and was brought back to court today for sentencing.
The court heard that Ackland was obsessed with serial killers and had confessed to attacking Bobbi-Anne at a bus stop before driving her to a remote location and attacking her with a hammer. Police found more than 3,000 disturbing images on his phone as well as a chilling internet search history.
Sentencing Ackland to life in prison, with a minimum of 31 years, presiding Judge Robert Linford turned to Ackland and said: "Bobbi-Anne was just 18 when on November 20 you encountered her at bus stop in Leigham area. She had the whole of her life in front of her until it was brutally and savagely snuffed out by you. She was a much-loved daughter and sister and a well-liked friend to many. She was the light of the family home, loving, loyal and the best daughter her parents could have. Her family struggle to comprehend a future without her."
Judge Linford went on to describe how evidence showed Ackland had "a worrying and disturbing interest in serial killers" that "went beyond morbid fascination". He said that Ackland had been actively looking for tools that would help him kill and dispose of a body - and had a search history of looking up remote and wooded areas on Dartmoor.
Judge Linford said the murder was "determined savagery" and that he delivered blows intent on killing. "You put her into the car unconscious and bleeding heavily. You could have stopped and taken her to hospital," he said. "You would have been in trouble but not this trouble and Bobbi-Anne could have lived. In the car you tried to strangle the life out of her but failed."
Judge Linford then spoke of how Ackland continued the attack at Dartmoor, saying that his account of Bobbi-Anne's fight to live was "chilling" and added that the search for Bobbi-Anne was so widespread that every person in the city was aware she was missing.
He continued: "You were quite clearly planning murder and did murder. There were effectively four attempts to kill her," explaining that there was an initial attack at the bus stop, before Ackland tried to strangle Bobbi-Anne in his car, before attacking her again with the hammer on the moor and standing on her throat. "This was a prolonged, savage and merciless attack. It caused outrage and fear in this part of country and rightly so. Utterly motiveless," he added.
Bobbi-Anne has been remembered by her family as the "best daughter, the best sister, and the best friend to so many people". In an emotional statement read outside Plymouth Crown Court, her family thanked those who had offered support and police officers who brought her killer to justice.
The statement read: "Bobbi was a beautiful girl who lit up our lives and the lives of everyone she ever met. She was kind, funny, and loyal. She was the best daughter, the best sister, and the best friend to so many people. Everybody who knew Bobbi loved her. We have been robbed of our beautiful girl in the worst possible way and our lives will never be the same without her.
“I want Cody Ackland to know that he has taken away our world. We will never see her beautiful face or hear her laugh, see her get married or have the children she so wanted. So many everyday things have been taken away. Her not being here is still unimaginable.
“Our lives have changed forever. We have not been able to say goodbye to Bobbi-Anne and we can only imagine the things he did to her – the thoughts are continually going around in our minds. Why Bobbi-Anne? Why make her suffer? To know her final hours were spent being tortured destroys us inside.
“Bobbi-Anne was so loved and had so many life plans; he cruelly ripped that life away from her and us. We can’t even contemplate a future without her in it. There will never be anything the justice system can impose that will ever come close to what he deserves.
“We do want to say thank you to everyone. There is no piece of paper, bulletin board, flyer, or anything big enough out there on which we can say thank you.
“The help and support from everyone, not just friends and family but everyone, everywhere, who helped with all of the posters, posts and messages to bring our baby, our Bobbi, home – thank you.
“To everyone in the police, the investigation team and all of the services, we thank you for everything you have done and for finally getting justice for Bobbi-Anne.”
