GUILTY UK - Det. Leanne McKie, 39, found dead in Cheshire lake, 28 Sept 2017

[Legally Bland]

14:35
BREAKING: Darren McKie jailed for life


Darren McKie is jailed for life and told he must serve 19 years before he can apply for parole.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526


19 years? That's not much. I was expecting 25.

 

[Tortoise]

Disappointing sentence with his lies and fraudulent behaviour.

 

[jessie]

I expected a longer term too. He was a high ranking police officer in a responsible job and he has lied all the way through this, plus his actions after killing Leanne and dumping her should all count against him? JIMO.

 

[Tortoise]

Are the children being raised by Leanne's parents?

 

[Legally Bland]

14:47
Judge: 'It was a cruel killing'

The judge Mr Justice Spencer tells McKie:

“I have to sentence you for the murder of your wife Leanne McKie, the mother of your three children. You strangled her to death in the family home. It was a cruel killing. Then, abusing your knowledge of criminal investigations, and abusing the public’s trust in you as a senior police officer, you set about disposing of your wife’s body in a callous and despicable way.

It was only through an exceptionally thorough and painstaking investigation by the Cheshire Constabulary that an overwhelming case was proved against you.

For many months up to the end of the prosecution case at your trial you brazenly continued to deny that you were the killer.

Just before you were due to give evidence you changed your plea to guilty on count two, manslaughter, and for the first time admitted that it was you who had killed your wife, but without intent for murder.

The jury were sure, in convicting you of murder, that you strangled her intending either to kill her or cause her really serious harm.”

[FONT=&amp]McKie stares straight ahead and shows no reaction as the sentence is delivered.[/FONT]

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

 

[Legally Bland]

Are the children being raised by Leanne's parents?

I hope so, I don't think it's been mentioned, but I may have missed it.

 

[jessie]

Are the children being raised by Leanne's parents?

I haven't read so, but imagine they will. She was their only child so she has no siblings to help them out. Tragic, such a wicked thing to happen.

 

[Legally Bland]

15:02
'She was small in stature. She would have been no match for you'

Describing the murder, the judge continued:

“She was small in stature. She would have been no match for you. There must have been a confrontation. On the evidence of the pathologist, I am quite sure that in strangling her you applied significant pressure to her neck for at least a minute, fracturing two bones in the structures of the throat as well as causing extensive bruising.”

Leanne McKie’s mother Ellen appeared distressed in the public gallery as the judge added: “She would have been aware she was being strangled to death. You put your hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. The damage to the inside of the mouth confirms that. It was a brutal killing.”

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

 

[Alyce]

Are the children being raised by Leanne's parents?

Yes I read somewhere last week that they are with Leanne's parents.
Very thankful ( me ) that they are, and have not been fostered.

 

[Alyce]

14:35
BREAKING: Darren McKie jailed for life


Darren McKie is jailed for life and told he must serve 19 years before he can apply for parole.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526


19 years? That's not much. I was expecting 25.

19 !! that's a ridiculously low sentence - I also thought at least 25 if not more and thought that there would be a few years added on to allow for the lies he told right up until the moment when he realised that he wasnt going to get away with it.

Plus, as the judge said last week, he has shown no remorse, has not given evidence or said anything at all to imply that he is sorry for what he did.

And, given his occupation, I also find it surprising that it was not a more severe sentence. A person who works to uphold the law but has broken the law in the worst way possible.
I am angry on Leanne's behalf.

 

[Legally Bland]

15:21
McKie lied ‘determinedly and shamelessly for hour after hour’

The judge told the defendant ‘you probably lost your nerve’ when trying to find a suitable spot to dump the body, in the end dragging it 140 metres through the mud into Poynton Lake.

Later he ‘played the innocent husband anxious for his wife’s safety’ and lied ‘determinedly and shamelessly for hour after hour’ when he was interviewed by the police, said Mr Justice Spencer.

The judge described the defendant’s admission mid-way through the trial that he was guilty of manslaughter - although he continued to deny murder - as a ‘damage limitation exercise’ in the face of ‘overwhelming’ evidence.

He said he had no doubt the ‘heated confrontation which must have inevitably taken place’ between the McKies had brought up ‘repercussions’ for his career, as he had used forgery and subterfuge to apply for the £54,000 loan.

“In strangling her so long and so hard, as you must have done, I am sure you must have realised her life was ebbing away and for that reason I am sure you intended to kill her, not just cause her really serious harm.”

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526


BBM, there doesn't seem to be much mitigation so far for the low sentence.

 

[Alyce]

Legally - many thanks for all the updates - have only just had time to get on here today so it is much appreciated, being able to read through the court info all in one go.

 

[Legally Bland]

From Friday:

Mrs McKie's parents, Ellen and Ray Dodd, of Deeside, near Chester, who are raising the couple's three children, said their lives would 'never be the same again'.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...learned-secret-54-000-loan.html#ixzz5AxYnAEOE

 

[Legally Bland]

15:29
McKie went to ‘despicable and cynical lengths’ to cover his tracks

The judge said the ‘deliberate, callous and determined concealment of the body’ was an aggravating factor as was the ‘mental and physical suffering’ his wife would have felt as she was being strangled.

“She must have been aware that she was being strangled to death in the family home by the father of their children. It was an awful way to die,” he said.

The defendant also went to ‘despicable and cynical lengths’ to cover his tracks for instance by sending his wife five text messages after her death to give the appearance of a loving relationship, said Mr Justice Spencer.

He dismissed claims there had been a ‘degree of provocation’, saying: “It was your choice not to tell her the truth. It was your choice to conceal the truth from her by fraud. It is hardly surprising that her reaction on discovering the truth must have been a mixture of anger, disappointment, anxiety and hurt.

“She trusted you and you breached that trust.”

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526

 

[Legally Bland]

Legally - many thanks for all the updates - have only just had time to get on here today so it is much appreciated, being able to read through the court info all in one go.

No problem, it's nice to get live court reporting for the whole trial.

I recognise the journalist's name, I think he may have been covering the Sadie Hartley trial.

 

[Tortoise]

19 !! that's a ridiculously low sentence - I also thought at least 25 if not more and thought that there would be a few years added on to allow for the lies he told right up until the moment when he realised that he wasnt going to get away with it.

Plus, as the judge said last week, he has shown no remorse, has not given evidence or said anything at all to imply that he is sorry for what he did.

And, given his occupation, I also find it surprising that it was not a more severe sentence. A person who works to uphold the law but has broken the law in the worst way possible.
I am angry on Leanne's behalf.

Well said. That just about sums up everything I've been feeling too. He's not even moved or crying to hear the victim impact statement.

 

[Tortoise]

So it'll be the stress then. I'll have to remember that one if I'm ever up for murder.

 

[jessie]

No problem, it's nice to get live court reporting for the whole trial.

I recognise the journalist's name, I think he may have been covering the Sadie Hartley trial.

Many thanks from me as well LB.
I thought the court reports have been very comprehensive during this trial, excellent coverage.

 

[jessie]

Well said. That just about sums up everything I've been feeling too. He's not even moved or crying to hear the victim impact statement.

IMO McKie has exhibited sociopathic behaviour to a 'T'. His colleagues also said he seemed without empathy and never shared any personal/family details. Quite detached from the world about him it seems. OJIMO of course.

 

[Alyce]

15:21
McKie lied ‘determinedly and shamelessly for hour after hour’

The judge told the defendant ‘you probably lost your nerve’ when trying to find a suitable spot to dump the body, in the end dragging it 140 metres through the mud into Poynton Lake.

Later he ‘played the innocent husband anxious for his wife’s safety’ and lied ‘determinedly and shamelessly for hour after hour’ when he was interviewed by the police, said Mr Justice Spencer.

The judge described the defendant’s admission mid-way through the trial that he was guilty of manslaughter - although he continued to deny murder - as a ‘damage limitation exercise’ in the face of ‘overwhelming’ evidence.

He said he had no doubt the ‘heated confrontation which must have inevitably taken place’ between the McKies had brought up ‘repercussions’ for his career, as he had used forgery and subterfuge to apply for the £54,000 loan.

“In strangling her so long and so hard, as you must have done, I am sure you must have realised her life was ebbing away and for that reason I am sure you intended to kill her, not just cause her really serious harm.”

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/darren-mckie-murder-wife-trial-14368526


BBM, there doesn't seem to be much mitigation so far for the low sentence.[/QUOTE]

I agree. It's very odd. The Judge gives all the reasons why it should be a long setence, then comes up with just about the shortest one possible.