35 years for Sobo killer Neil Crampton

Nov 26 2008 The Journal

A KILLER driven by rage and jealousy when he slaughtered four members of his family was last night jailed for at least 35 years for their murders.

Neil Crampton stabbed and slashed to death his ex-partner Liz Sobo, 36, their children Abigail, 12, and five-year-old Steven and her brother Yemi Sobo, 41.

Sentencing Crampton, Mr Justice Wilkie told him: This was killing of the utmost savagery. You showed no mercy and in your fury you inflicted on each of them many, many blows with a knife.

The former taxi driver claimed he was suffering from depression and jealousy at the time of the killings to such a degree his responsibility for his actions was substantially impaired.

But prosecutors said that faced with a final rejection by Ms Sobo, who had made it clear she did not want him back, Crampton lost his temper and set out to destroy what he knew he could never possess.

The 36-year-old, of Huntley Crescent, Winlaton, Gateshead, had denied four charges of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was found guilty by majority verdicts on all four counts after a trial.

Imposing mandatory life sentences at Newcastle Crown Court, the judge ruled Crampton must serve a minimum 35 years behind bars before he is considered for parole.

He told him: I am satisfied, as has been the jury, that you were fully responsible for your actions. You snuffed out the life of a young woman, Liz Sobo, of whom no one bar you had had a bad word to say.

She was plainly a delightful, bubbly person, a good mother and generous to you in her attempts to persuade you to be a worthy father to your children.

Her brother, Yemi Sobo, by all accounts was a highly popular respected public figure, who also supported his sister, niece and nephew. You ended the lives of your two young children, Abigail and Steven almost before they began.

Mr Justice Wilkie said he had full regard for the impact of the losses suffered by the Sobo family, some of whom were in court to see Crampton sentenced.

He told Crampton: The reason for these murders was none other than your pathetic sense of rage when she finally persuaded you that your relationship with her had no future. That alone and your inability to cope with that commonplace fact of life caused you to cut them down in a savage way.

The judge said the fact Crampton had killed four people, two of them particularly vulnerable because of their age and the sustained savagery of the attacks were all aggravating features.

He said a further aggravating feature was that Crampton had in rage, by his own admission, inflicted further wounds on the bodies of the two adult victims.

The judge said he took into account that although insufficient to reduce his culpability in law, Crampton had been suffering clinical depression at the time of the killings.

He said he also bore in mind he had no previous convictions and a letter Crampton had written expressing his remorse for what he had done. He told him: Whether or not that is genuine remorse or concern for your own position is something only you know. You must answer to yourself for what you have done.

The judge said Crampton, who stood with his head bowed, would only be released from prison when the parole board concluded it was safe to do so.

Speaking after the case, Det Chief Insp Steve Binks, of Northumbria Police, said: Crampton is an evil and dangerous man who has shown no remorse for his victims.

I would like to pay tribute to the Sobo family for the dignity they have shown throughout after losing four members of their family. Also Mr and Mrs Crampton who have lost their only two grandchildren. There are no winners in a case like this.

Page 2: Family 'yet to wake from nightmare'