In a last-ditch bid to get her abusive partner to change, mum-of-two Nicola Woodman wrote to him to profess her "deep and unimaginable" love.

"We deserve happiness, James," she wrote. "We deserve a future."

But the man she loved, James Hutchinson, cared so little for her that he never bothered to read the letter.

His drink and drug habits had left her penniless and on Christmas Day 2016, under the drug-fuelled delusion that she was having an affair, he brutally murdered her in her home at Bankholme Court, Holme Wood.

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As a judge sentenced Hutchinson, 44, of Holme Wood Road, Bradford, to life in prison with a minimum of 23 years, Bradford Crown Court heard details of how their toxic relationship had spiralled downward in just two years.

The court heard that Hutchinson and Miss Woodman began a relationship in 2014. That same year, he was cautioned for dragging her along by the hair in the street when he was drunk.

Her neighbours said he treated her badly and always appeared to be drunk. He abused Class A drugs and relied on Miss Woodman's earnings from her job in the NHS, sponging off her to feed his heroin and crack cocaine addiction.

A "harrowing and heartbreaking" letter to Hutchinson from Miss Woodman, that he never troubled to read, said they had no gas, not a scrap of food in the house and the electricity was about to be cut off.

She spoke of her "deep and unimaginable" love for Hutchinson but said she had been left "penniless with nothing and felt worthless."

"We live like tramps and I hate it," she told him.

"I have lost myself and I have lost you. I put myself completely at your mercy.

"We deserve happiness, James, we deserve a future."

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said a "cocktail of delusional jealousy" was festering in Hutchinson's mind.

On Christmas Day, the couple were in the living room at Miss Woodman's home, with a pregnancy test that was showing 'positive' close by.

Hutchinson tied Miss Woodman's hands behind her back but she broke free.

He then attacked her with two knives from the kitchen, a pickaxe handle and his fists and feet.

Miss Woodman sustained at least 102 external injuries, including 24 stab wounds, one that pierced her heart.

She also had extensive bruising, including defensive injuries to her hands.

Mr Sharp said of Hutchinson: "It is not in dispute that when he attacked Nicola Woodman he had a settled intention to kill her."

Hutchinson then ransacked the house, looking for something to justify his unfounded suspicions about Miss Woodman's infidelity.

He then went to bed and the next morning took her car to collect methadone, heroin and cocaine.

He went back to her home and later told the police: "I zonked out."

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He rang 999 at 4.17pm, saying Miss Woodman had been stabbed and he thought she was dead.

Hutchinson was arrested in the early hours of the next morning after he was discovered asleep in the car.

He told the police he believed Miss Woodman was having an affair.

Although she repeatedly denied it, he said: "It's gone too far, my head's fried by now."

At Miss Woodman's funeral, her family invited donations in lieu of flowers to Behind Closed Doors, a Leeds-based charity that supports people in abusive relationships.

The charity's website, which has advice on spotting the signs of domestic abuse, is at www.behind-closed-doors.org.uk