A “jealous” boyfriend who slit the throats of his partner and an associate is likely to die in prison after being jailed for life at the Old Bailey with a minimum term of 39 years.
Lee Peacock, 50, killed his girlfriend Sharon Pickles, 46, and Clinton Ashmore, 59, during a two-day violence spree through Westminster in August 2021 within weeks of being released from jail.
The self-confessed burglar, who had been released from prison on June 4 2021, refused to attend his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
In his remarks addressed to Peacock, who will receive them in written form, the judge Mr Justice Murray said: “The minimum term I must impose in this case means that even if you live a long life, there is a strong possibility that you will die in prison even before you are eligible for consideration for release by the Parole Board.
“Having considered all the circumstances in relation to both murders, and taking into account the aggravating factors, I intend to impose concurrent life sentences.”
Relatives who attended the hearing gasped with relief and embraced each other as Peacock was sentenced.
Mr Justice Murray said Peacock “lashed out at Sharon in a fit of rage, jealous of her sexual relationship with another man”, while a bedridden man who she cared for slept in another room.
He concluded that while the killing of Ms Pickles was not planned, there was “a significant level of premeditation and planning” in the murder of Mr Ashmore.
A jury found Peacock guilty of the double murder on Tuesday.
Jurors heard he was out to “punish” Ms Pickles and Mr Ashmore, and that he turned up at his father’s house with Ms Pickles’s kitten in a rucksack shortly afterwards.
Peacock confessed to his father, who alerted police on August 19, 2021.
Officers tracked Peacock down to a houseboat on the Grand Union Canal following a five-day manhunt, and when they arrived he tried to turn the same 4cm-long blade he had used on the victims on himself.
At the time of the murders, Peacock was under supervision by probation services after being released from prison at the automatic halfway point of a 40-month sentence for aggravated burglary.
He was supervised by the London Community Rehabilitation Company before being transferred to the London branch of the Probation Service when the system was nationalised on June 26, 2021.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said it is not appropriate to comment on the findings of a review into how Peacock was able to commit serious crimes while on probation until they have been shared with the victims’ families.
An MoJ spokesman said: “This was a horrific crime and our sympathies are with the families of Sharon Pickles and Clinton Ashmore.
“Serious further offences are rare but we are investing £155 million more every year into the Probation Service and recruited thousands of extra staff to improve the supervision of offenders and, keep the public safe.”
