‘My daughter was a crime scene’: Holly Newton’s mother recalls daughter’s murder

The mother of murdered Hexham teenager Holly Newton has said she was unable to touch her in hospital because “my daughter was a crime scene”.
Micala Trussler read out a powerful statement in Newcastle Crown Court for the first day of the sentencing of her daughter’s killer – 17-year-old Logan MacPhail.
Holly was just 15-years-old when she was stabbed to death in Hexham in Northumberland in January 2023 by MacPhail, who was her ex-boyfriend.
MacPhail was 16 at the time of the murder and could not be named during the trial because of his age. However, a judge at Newcastle Crown Court lifted a reporting restriction earlier this month, so that the media could name him.
During the trial, the court heard MacPhail had stalked Holly around the town centre of Hexham before stabbing her and causing 36 injuries to her body.
Ms Trussler told the court today that she raced to the scene of the attack and was frightened of what she would find in Hexham city centre that day.
“The enormity and severity cannot be put into words,” she sad. “I was stopped from seeing my daughter in the alleyway and the ambulance due to the horrifying condition she was in.”
The statement continued: “My daughter died not knowing her mam was by her side.
“Once at hospital, I was unable to even touch my daughter, hug her, kiss her or hold her hand.
“My daughter was a crime scene, she was evidence.”
Ms Trussler said Holly and MacPhail had a typical teenage relationship at the beginning. Holly was caring and tried to help her first and only boyfriend – who had autism and learning difficulties – learn to read by getting books from the library.
Her mother described MacPhail as mild-mannered and polite during his regular visits to their home in Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
But things changed when Holly matured and decided to end the relationship, her mother said.
She believed her daughter was the victim of domestic abuse and was caused emotional turmoil by her ex-boyfriend.
He changed her social media passwords and made Holly believe he could hack into her accounts, as well as threatening to self-harm.
MacPhail travelled to her home the night before the murder and hung around for hours, trying to convince one of her siblings to let him in.
“I dread to think what could have happened to the rest of my family had he been allowed inside,” Ms Trussler said.
As she addressed the court, MacPhail joined via video link, and she told them that “Holly is missed beyond words and can never be described and never be forgotten.”
Judge Mr Justice Hilliard thanked her for her words, adding: “You have done Holly’s memory proud by the way you have handled it.”
On the first day of a two-day sentencing, there was discussion about MacPhail’s learning difficulties, his autism and culpability.
David Brooke KC, prosecuting, pointed out the teenager was able to get to Haltwhistle from his home in Birtley in Gateshead alone the night before the murder, to follow Holly around Hexham while disguised and lie to her about his whereabouts.
“He was perfectly able to make rational choices,” Mr Brooke said.
MacPhail was convicted of murder, as well as wounding with intent on a boy who stepped in to try to stop the attack.
MacPhail, who met Holly when they both attended Army cadets, claimed he never planned to attack her but wanted to use the knife to kill himself.
MacPhail denied murder but admitted manslaughter, claiming he blacked out, but his story was rejected by the jury.
The sentencing continues.
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