A 34-year old man is today beginning a life sentence after he admitted the inexplicable murder of a mother-of-two.

Adrian Holroyd had moved into 31-year-old Paula Boocock's Queensbury home just three months before he stabbed her to death last November.

The couple started a relationship after their marriages broke down but after a night out ended in a row, Holroyd deliberately plunged two knives into his girlfriend's chest as she slept in an armchair.

The next morning Holroyd rang the emergency services and confessed to having stabbed her to death.

When police arrived at the flat in Hainsworth Moor Garth they had to force their way into the locked property and found Holroyd in bed claiming to have taken an overdose.

Prosecutor Michael Harrison QC told Bradford Crown Court that Holroyd told police: "There's no need for handcuffs. I killed her last night. I'm not going anywhere.''

During questioning by police, Holroyd admitted that it had been a "bombshell" when Mrs Boocock talked of ending their relationship during the argument.

But Judge Norman Jones QC noted the row seemed to have been resolved by both of them going to sleep.

Although he said he could not recollect getting the knives from the kitchen, Holroyd described how he stood over Mrs Boocock and thrust the knives into her.

Judge Jones told Holroyd: "In the event you killed the woman whom I am satisfied you loved and doing so you left two children motherless.''

Mr Harrison said Mrs Boocock had confided to friends about Holroyd's possessive nature and told one that he had threatened to kill her and himself if she ever left him.

Judge Jones said although Holroyd was normally a quiet and responsible man there was persuasive evidence that he was possessive and somewhat jealous.

He said it appeared that the talk of terminating the relationship played a significant part in what followed that night. But he added: "It will remain, I fear, something inexplicable and bizarre.''

Holroyd's barrister, Simon Lawler QC, said by his plea to murder he accepted full responsibility for his acts, although the explanation was difficult to identify.

He said Holroyd admitted that he had been "ranting and raving'' that night but did not offer any excuses for what he did.

"There are here no excuses offered. There is no self-pity. There is only the most genuine remorse expressed at the time, expressed through his plea and through me to those most terribly affected,'' said Mr Lawler.

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