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 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, Ellesmere Port, who has assaulted two ex-partners, had admitted murder on Monday on the day his trial was due to begin.

Sentencing Procter, who showed no emotion, Judge Clement Goldstone QC the Recorder of Liverpool said that 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.

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.

“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.

Judge Goldstone said that he had crammed her body into a suitcase and carried it to nearby Butterfly Woods, “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 that 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.”