Andrew Wadsworth Wiki – Andrew Wadsworth Biography
Andrew Wadsworth, a former professional cage fighter who murdered his ex-girlfriend in front of her 13-year-old daughter has been jailed for a minimum of 32 years.
Violent criminal Wadsworth stabbed Melissa Belshaw to death at her Billinge, Wigan home, two months after he came out of prison on licence and became consumed by an obsession about her sex life.
Fuelled by cocaine and alcohol, Wadsworth subjected the 32-year-old to a prolonged attack with a large kitchen knife in her bedroom on the afternoon of May 20.
Age
He is 37 years old.
Andrew Wadsworth Jailed For 32 Years
A passer-by bravely rescued Ms. Belshaw’s terrified daughter by smashing into the locked house in Billinge, Wigan, with a hammer.
Wadsworth then went out on to the street armed with the same knife and repeatedly stabbed a concerned neighbor who heard the screams coming from the property.
He then delivered a roundhouse kick to the head of a police constable at the scene where he was arrested and then later punched another officer in the face in a police cell, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Wadsworth was found guilty by the jury of murder and attempted murder and pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two assaults on police officers.
He was cleared of making a threat to kill Ms. Belshaw’s daughter and was sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in prison.
Wadsworth admitted stabbing Ms. Belshaw but relied on a partial defense to the murder of a loss of control following what he claimed was a string of shock revelations about her sex life.
Trial
The trial heard that Wadsworth regularly accused Ms. Belshaw in text messages from September 2019 of cheating on him, including by working as a prostitute.
The judge noted: ‘You claimed that you had loved her but the numerous derogatory words used in your text messages to her suggest otherwise. By contrast, you appear to have had a very high opinion of yourself. Your messages display a wholly unwarranted air of moral superiority.’
Wadsworth came out of prison on license in November 2017 following a five-year jail sentence imposed in 2010 for two offenses of robbery involving imitation firearms and a 10-year custodial term in 2011 with an extended license of two years for aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Judge Statement
The judge said Wadsworth had come close to killing Mr. Bristow, who suffered wounds to his chest and head, a partially severed right ear, and a punctured lung.
A wound to his right shoulder has left him with nerve damage, which has left him unable to exercise and play sport, the court heard.
In a victim personal statement, Ms. Belshaw’s mother, Jean Mulvaney, said her daughter was a ‘beautiful soul inside and out, who had a heart of gold and many friends.’
She added: ‘The opening of a new shop was her dream and a turning point for her life.’
Following sentencing, Ms. Belshaw’s family said: ‘The trial has been an extremely traumatic experience as we’ve had to sit through every detail of how Melissa was killed.
‘The defense continually tried to destroy her memory and showed a total lack of sympathy or sensitivity towards the family and the loss we have suffered.’
