Ashley Kemp, 55, from Hibaldstow, has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, Clair Armstrong, after a violent incident in Messingham last November. Kemp admitted to strangling Clair following a dispute at her home but initially pleaded guilty to manslaughter. His plea was rejected, and the case proceeded to trial at Grimsby Crown Court.
In the early hours of 6 November 2022, Kemp made a chilling 999 call confessing, “I have killed my girlfriend. We got into a fight, and I ended up strangling her.” Police responded quickly to Elm Way, Messingham, where they discovered Clair dead in her bedroom with fatal neck injuries and a head wound.
Kemp fled the scene but crashed his car at high speed between Hemswell and Willoughton. Officers apprehended him near the crash site and arrested him on suspicion of murder.
During police interviews, Kemp admitted to headbutting Clair before strangling her to silence her during a heated argument. It was reported that Clair had asked Kemp to leave the home they shared prior to the attack.
Detective Superintendent Simon Vickers, the Senior Investigating Officer, said: “While today’s sentence can’t bring Clair back, I hope it brings some closure to her loved ones. Kemp now has time to reflect on the pain he caused Clair and her family.”
Following the verdict, Clair’s family spoke out expressing their heartbreak and relief: “Since that awful moment in November, our world has been shattered. We miss Clair every single day and struggle to imagine life without her. We hoped Kemp would show some decency and spare us the details of how she died, but we’re relieved justice is served. We may never fully accept life without Clair, but we will never forget her or what he did.”
Originally published by UKNIP.
