A former British Army tank commander has been sentenced to life in prison for brutally murdering his partner in a revenge attack after she reported him for drink-driving.
Stephen Lawton, 46, stabbed 54-year-old Michelle Egge-Bailey three times — once in the arm and twice in the neck, severing her jugular vein — at their shared flat on Airedale Avenue, Cottingley, Bradford, on March 11. The court heard that the killing was a premeditated act of vengeance carried out the day after Lawton’s arrest.
Lawton left Ms Egge-Bailey to bleed to death in bed overnight, covering her face with a pillow. On Monday, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years before being eligible for parole.
Bradford Crown Court was told that Lawton’s actions were part of a toxic five-year relationship marked by violence and control. Judge Jonathan Rose described the murder as “a brutal killing of a defenceless and vulnerable woman” and said it was triggered by Lawton’s anger over being arrested for drink-driving — an arrest Ms Egge-Bailey had orchestrated.
“After your arrest, you brooded over how to exact revenge,” Judge Rose told Lawton. “Knowing she was incapacitated through drink and unable to defend herself, you deliberately armed yourself with a kitchen knife and stabbed her repeatedly as she lay in bed. There may have been moments of terror before she died.”
Police officers found Ms Egge-Bailey’s body after responding to welfare concerns and pronounced her dead at the scene. Lawton was arrested and later found guilty of murder on September 3 following a five-day trial.
The court heard that both had been drinking heavily and arguing throughout the day. Judge Rose rejected Lawton’s claim that he acted out of provocation, calling the attack deliberate and calculated.
Lawton, who previously served in Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan, was said to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He also had prior convictions for sexual assault — for which he was court-martialled and dismissed from the army — as well as drink-driving and possession of Class A drugs.
