It was the early morning of April 20, 2019, in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Megan Newton, 18, was laughing as she opened the door to her apartment. Behind her was Joseph Trevor, 19, a former secondary school classmate whom she invited to sleep there because he said he was too drunk to get home. Two hours later, cameras captured him leaving alone, looking at his bloodied right hand.
Trevor had been released that same night for ketamine and cocaine use before meeting Megan at a nightclub. He raped her and killed her with 9 stab wounds in her own home. Stafford Crown Court sentenced him to 21 years and 65 days for the murder, plus 8 years for two counts of rape.
For many, the sentence is a slap in the face: a man who took advantage of a young woman’s kindness to rape and murder her could be free while still relatively young. For others, the system worked and the judge was clear: “Megan had her whole life ahead of her”. Does the sentence deliver justice or betray it?