A YOUNG mum was brutally attacked by a crack cocaine addict who then crammed her body in a suitcase which he burnt in a secluded wood before trying to hide the remains.

Ellia Arathoon's callous killer, Craig Procter was today jailed for life for the "gruesome" murder with a minimum term of 21 years by a judge who described him as "highly dangerous and manipulative."

He said that while the family of the 29-year-old victim feared he will be released to carry on with his life he "should make no such assumption" as he may never be released and it will be up to the authorities when he considered not to be a danger to society.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that, poignantly, Ellia's nine-year-old son Reece, distressed over the loss of his mum, had wanted to come to the court "to throw tomatoes" at the defendant.

Procter, 40, of Shephard Close in Ellesmere Port, who has assaulted two ex-partners, had admitted murder yesterday on the day his trial was due to begin.

Sentencing Procter, who showed no emotion, Judge Clement Goldstone QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, said he and the victim had known each other for some time and shared crack cocaine.

He killed her in his home on October 30 last year but because of his actions afterwards it had not been possible to reconstruct accurately the circumstances of her death.

It is believed he inflicted more than one blow on the mother-of-one using a heavy glass object killing her, but it was possible she had been alive when put into the suitcase.

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Ellia Arathoon was brutally attacked by Craig Procter, who was jailed for life for her murder 

Procter claimed to have no recollection of to how or why he killed her but the judge said: "From your conduct after the killing and your efforts to set up another unidentified man I have no doubt that you do know and will take with you to the grave precisely what you did and why."

He said that it seemed that Procter and the victim must have had an argument, most probably about a burning cigarette butt, and he had grossly over-reacted because of the crack cocaine he had taken and launched a violent attack on her.

Judge Goldstone said: "There is no doubt that when you did so you intended to kill Ellia Arathoon because not only did you not call the police but you set about disposing of her body.”

He said that Procter had crammed her body into a suitcase and carried it to nearby Butterfly Woods, adding it was "no mean feat".

CCTV footage of the route from the defendant's home along a pathway, canal towpath and through the woods had been played to the crowded courtroom.

He set fire to the suitcase using petrol or another accelerant leaving it there, where it burnt for six hours before he returned to move the remains to a more secluded part of the woods up a steep embankment by the M53 and tried to conceal with twigs, branches and a piece of pink carpet.

He said that although it was possible the victim had been alive when placed in the suitcase he did not sentence him on that basis.

"The fact remains that you intentionally, deliberately and brutally killed a defenceless and blameless woman and thereafter created a situation which prevented her family from identifying her and made their grieving process that much more difficult and hard to bear."

Judge Goldstone said that Ellia "must have suffered considerable anguish before succumbing to the violence you inflicted on her. Physical anguish to which you were totally indifferent."

He added: "By your mindless violence you have deprived a son of a loving mum and left him in a state of confusion and incomprehension about why you killed his mum and you have deprived her parents of a doting daughter."

Richard Pratt, QC, prosecuting, who described the murder as "particularly gruesome" had told Liverpool Crown Court that Procter had given a lying account to police about a stranger attacking Ellia, who had been "sofa surfing" in the previous fortnight in his home and threatened him into cleaning up the evidence of the attack.

Procter denied sexual activity but changed his account after compelling DNA evidence claiming it was consensual, which was not accepted by the prosecution.

In an impact statement the victim's mum, Elaina Hampson, described her as "beautiful, vivacious, strong willed, friendly, funny and a loving person."

She said her daughter had "worshipped and adored" her son, who wanted to come to court "to throw tomatoes at the person responsible. He’s also asked if we can take him to the house where his mummy died. No child should have to ask those questions.

"So many people’s lives have changed in a horrific way. I don't know how I or we start to live with this.

"I don't believe the sentence he will get will ever help us because he is still here and she is not.

"He has ruined our family. He has caused us pain and heartache.

"I hope one day he has some sort of remorse."

Anthony Metzer, QC, defending, said Procter had been taking cocaine since last year but held down a job.

"The defendant will not be able to give comfort to the family and friends by being able to say more about the circumstances, He has simply no recollection of what he did at the time of the killing.

"Undoubtedly the defendant would have been under heavy influence of cocaine at the time, that is not an excuse, far from it."

He added that his guilty plea showed "a measure of remorse."

Detective Sergeant Steve Currie, from Cheshire Police said: "We know Procter attacked Ellia with a heavy glass causing her to fall unconscious. Evidence indicates sexual contact, which the defendant eventually admitted.

"The prosecution maintain that the sexual contact was non consensual.

"We also know that he then put her body in a suitcase and wheeled it through the streets to a makeshift grave, setting the suitcase on fire with her inside – but tragically we may never know why Procter meted out such acts on such a vulnerable young woman.

"Procter originally tried to hide his guilt by covering his tracks and blaming others, but thanks to our dedicated team of specialists and experts at Cheshire Police and at the CPS, we were able to get to the truth and get justice for Ellia’s family.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight that the Ellesmere Port community also had a huge part to play in helping us close the net on Procter.

"The public were invaluable in helping us progress our investigation to a successful conclusion and I’d like to thank you wholeheartedly for your help and assistance. I hope you will continue giving us your help and support so that we can continue to put such vile individuals behind bars.”