Mother haunted by daughter’s murder as boyfriend given life
THE mother of a prodigiously gifted maths graduate who was murdered by her jealous boyfriend has described how she will always be haunted by the scene in which her daughter was left screaming and dying.
Poppy Devey Waterhouse, 24, was stabbed to death by Joe Atkinson, her former boyfriend and fellow maths graduate, weeks after she ended their three-year relationship.
Atkinson, 25, was jailed for life yesterday by a judge who told him he had taken the life of someone who had so much to live for.
Miss Devey Waterhouse’s family were in court to see Atkinson jailed. In a powerful victim impact statement, her mother, Julie Devey, said: “As a parent, my basic duty is to make sure that I keep my children safe. I failed, and I have to carry that failure with me at all times, wherever I go, whoever I am with, whatever I am doing.”
She added: “I kept stroking my hands across the floor boards where she had been left screaming and dying. I just wanted to scoop her up and save her.”
Miss Devey Waterhouse had ended her relationship with Atkinson in October and had been planning to move out of their flat in Leeds. They were both seeing other people.
Leeds Crown Court heard how, in the early hours of Dec 14 last year, he burst into the flat they still shared on Richmond Hill in the city and used a kitchen knife to inflict more than 100 injuries.
Forensic evidence showed that Miss Devey Waterhouse tried to fight off her attacker.
The court heard that, a month before the “savage and brutal” attack, Atkinson had punched Miss Devey Waterhouse’s new boyfriend.
On the night of the attack, he had spent the evening at a Christmas party. After returning home, fuelled by jealousy, he burst into the flat and repeatedly stabbed her.
Atkinson had initially denied murder, but changed his plea last week.
The Honourable Mr Justice Lavender told Atkinson: “Poppy Devey Waterhouse was a young woman with so much going for her.
“She had so many opportunities ... but you brought an end to that.”