A MAN who stabbed his pregnant Irish girlfriend to death in her London flat using a pair of scissors has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ailish Walsh, 28, was almost 23 weeks pregnant when she was subjected to a ferocious attack by Liam Taylor, the father of her unborn child.
Ms Walsh died in the arms of her father, who rushed to her flat in Rectory Road, Hackney, London N16 after being alerted by one of his daughter's friends that she was in trouble.
"This was an unforgivable act and Ailish's last moments were violent beyond imagination," said Detective Chief Inspector Mark Rogers, who led the investigation.
Attack
The investigation discovered that on the night of Thursday, December 15, 2002, Ms Walsh had caught 38-year-old Taylor taking drugs in her flat and subsequently asked him to leave.
Instead, he subjected the mother-to-be to a violent attack using a pair of scissors.
Following the brutal assault, officers were flagged down outside Ms Walsh's flat and immediately went to her aid.
London Ambulance Service were also called but they could not save her, with the young woman passing away in her father's arms.
Ms Walsh, who was originally from Coolock in Dublin, was later laid to rest in her native Ireland.
Ms Walsh died in her father's arms (Image: Met Police)Detectives from the Met's homicide team launched an investigation to find her attacker, which quickly identified Taylor as the wanted suspect.
In the early hours of Sunday, December 18, he was arrested at another address by detectives from the Met's specialist crime command.
They were able to piece together a watertight timeline of Taylor's movements which proved he was the killer.
A special post mortem found that Ms Walsh had sustained multiple injuries and stab wounds, later established to have been caused by scissors found at the flat.
Taylor, of no fixed address, gave a no comment interview and has never expressed remorse for his actions.
He pleaded guilty to the murder at the Old Bailey on April 1 and was sentenced at the same court on Thursday, where he was told he must a minimum term of 27 years.
'Controlling and possessive'
DCI Rogers said Taylor is a 'danger to women and wider society' as he offered his condolences to Ms Walsh's loved ones.
"Our thoughts remain with her family who have had to endure hearing the awful details of her killing in her home, the place she should have been safest," he said.
"Taylor is a controlling and possessive man who killed his pregnant partner — he is a danger to women and wider society, and belongs in prison.
"I would like to express our deepest sympathy to Ailish's loved ones and I hope that this sentencing provides them with some sense that justice has been carried out."
