Bulwell 'monster' who murdered ex-partner in horrific stabbing frenzy sentenced to life - and minimum 29 years behind bars

Matthew Farmer, 42, of Logan Street, pleaded not guilty to the killing of 39-year-old mum-of-four Stacey Clay, with whom he had previously been in a 15-year relationship.

On Thursday (January 20) a jury at Nottingham Crown Court took just 30 minutes to find him guilty of the horrific crime.

Farmer was due to be brought before the judge today (Friday) for sentencing.

But the court heard he was in intensive care due to what was described as a ‘voluntary ingestion of drugs’.

After lengthy discussions, it was decided he would be sentenced in his absence, due to him having a history of taking overdoses and not attending hearings in the case.

Before sentencing was passed, a victim impact statement from Ms Clay’s mother, Carol York, was read out in which she said there “were no words” to describe what had happened and she called Farmer a “monster”.

During the trial, the court heard Farmer bought a knife at the Tesco Extra store in Bulwell where he worked as a security guard and used it to stab Ms Clay 21 times at her home on Andover Road in Bestwood on May 19 last year. He hid behind a barbecue in Ms Clay’s garden before jumping out on her.

Officers attended the address within a matter of minutes after receiving a call from a neighbour who was woken by sounds they believed to be those of dogs fighting.

After receiving the 999 call two officers ran to the back garden and Tasered Farmer, who continued to crouch over Ms Clay, strangling her.

Uniformed and firearms officers swarmed the address and swiftly arrested Farmer and gave urgent medical care to the victim before other emergency services arrived.

She died in Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre two weeks later.

Police body camera footage captured by the first officer on the scene showed Farmer with his back turned towards an alleyway ignoring the officer's call for him to leave Ms Clay alone and get off her.

The court was shown this, as well as harrowing footage of the attack captured on a security camera MsClay had installeed at her home just days before the attack.

Detective Inspector Rebecca Hodgman, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Stacey’s murder was brutal and horrific and our thoughts remain with her family, children and friends who have lost their mother, daughter and friend.

“Stacey was a much-loved mother who had ended a relationship with Farmer and was hoping to move on with her life.

“The vicious attack that took place on May 19 left her with horrific injuries and she sadly died two weeks later in hospital.

“We have worked incredibly hard to bring together all of the evidence and have worked closely with other teams throughout the force to bring Farmer to justice for his actions on that morning in May.

“We welcome the jury’s outcome of this trial in finding Farmer guilty of Stacey’s murder.

“I hope it can now bring Stacey’s family some degree of comfort knowing that Farmer will be behind bars for her murder. On behalf of Nottinghamshire Police I would like to once again issue our sincere condolences to Stacey’s family and friends on their loss.”