Killer who strangled girl, 16, was hooked on ‘choke porn’
A SEXUAL fantasist who became obsessed with strangulation after watching ‘choke porn’ films was jailed yesterday for throttling a girl to death.
James Morton plied farmer’s daughter Hannah Pearson, 16, with alcohol when she visited his home and put her to bed when she became so drunk she could barely stand.
The 24-year-old then stripped the teenager – his friend’s girlfriend who he had met only hours earlier – and acted out the violent sexual fantasies he had seen in porn movies until she stopped breathing.
Hannah may have already been unconscious through alcohol when Morton – who was a foot taller than his 5ft 3in victim and 6st heavier – killed her at his family home in Newark, Nottinghamshire, a court heard.
Morton was sentenced to 12 years in prison yesterday for manslaughter after Nottingham Crown Court was told Hannah died hours after meeting him in the pub as they celebrated her boyfriend’s birthday.
Judge Mrs Justice Carr said Morton subjected Hannah to ‘ auto- erotic sexual activity’ when she was in no position to object, telling him: ‘You enjoyed the domination, something you had seen on a porn DVD previously, and had also tried with at least one previous girlfriend.’
The former McDonald’s and Morrisons worker was cleared of murder on Wednesday as the jury could not be sure he intended to kill or cause his victim serious harm.
In a heart-breaking victim impact statement which she read to the court, Hannah’s mother, Dawn, described how the ‘horrifying’ and ‘incomprehensible’ crime came not long after her daughter had recov- ered from anorexia. She said: ‘She had been given a whole new lease of life, a second chance at life, and she was making the most of it.’
Mrs Pearson added: ‘Wherever Hannah was, there was always music. You knew which room Hannah was in as there would always be music playing.
‘Hannah lifted our house with her presence. I miss her desperately and I miss her music.
‘We so desperately want to see her walk through our front door again, see her beautiful smile, but we can’t. She has been taken away from us in such a cruel and vicious act. As a family, we have a constant ache in our hearts.’
The teenager grew up in a well-known farming family in the affluent village of Marston in Lincolnshire and successfully fought a two-and-a-half year battle with anorexia from the age of 11. At the time of her death on July 23 last year she had just finished her GCSEs and was working part-time at Pizza Express with hopes of going on to college.
Morton had invited Hannah and her boyfriend Jed Hope to continue the celebrations at his home, a former council house, because his parents were away. While Mr Hope, 19, could not afford the train fare, Hannah made the fateful decision to accept his offer.
Morton admitted becoming ‘curious’ about strangulation during sex after ‘seeing it on a film’. He claimed Hannah kissed him first and initially consented but he removed his hands from her neck when she suddenly gave a sharp intake of breath.
He called 999 when he found her eyes were glazed and lips purple. But the judge said Hannah – a former ‘head captain’ of her school – was ‘ intoxicated and trapped underneath you whilst you strangled her’.
She told him: ‘On any view you chose to engage in sexual activity which you knew to be dangerous with a very young drunk girl whom you had only met and
‘You enjoyed the domination’
who, as you realised at the time, had never engaged in this type of activity before.’ Michael Evans QC, prosecuting, told jurors Morton had stated that he had ‘previously put his hands around girlfriends’ throats during sexual encounters’.
The barrister added: ‘He said that he does not ask before he does this but waits to see if they enjoy it. We say that on this night, his increasing obsession with strangulation reached a different level.’
Detective Inspector Justine Wilson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘Hannah had put her trust into this man, he took advantage of that trust and showed no remorse whatsoever.’
Dutch engineer Vincent Tabak, 33, who strangled his neighbour Joanna Yates, 25, in Bristol in 2010 regularly viewed violent pornographic films featuring women being choked.
Almost two years later, Jamie Reynolds, 23, strangled former head girl Georgia Williams, 17, after becoming obsessed with violent pornography.