'Warped and angry' double killer guilty of cutting throats of girlfriend and associate

A “warped and angry” killer has been found guilty of cutting the throats of his girlfriend and an associate within weeks of being released from jail.

The Old Bailey heard how Lee Peacock, 50, was out to “punish” his partner Sharon Pickles, 46, and Clinton Ashmore, 59, during a two-day violent spree through Westminster in August 2021.

Peacock, who had only been released from prison in June 2021, admitted killing the pair he claimed were having a relationship while he was in jail, but denied it was murder.

He claimed the death of his “other half” was a “pure accident” and that Ashmore “went mental” and punched him in the head after Peacock confessed to killing Ms Pickles.

Sharon Pickles was brutally murdered in August 2021

The self-confessed burglar and thief tried to turn the 4cm-long knife on himself when police tracked him down to a houseboat on the Grand Union Canal after a five-day manhunt.

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for two hours and 20 minutes before finding Peacock guilty of the double murder.

Prosecutor Edward Brown KC read out extracts of statements from the victims’ loved ones.

Pickles’ father David, who lost his wife in 2019, said his daughter’s death so soon afterwards had left him “numb” and unable to celebrate Christmas because he believed she was “not at rest and had no peace”.

Pickles, who had travelled from the north of England to attend the trial in London, said: “I miss her more than words can describe.”

Ashmore’s sister, Clare, said: “The world has lost one of the good ones and our family and loved ones have lost the best.”

She said his life was “cruelly put out by someone who gave no thought or care about his actions”.

Brown said the killings were committed while Peacock was out on licence.

The defendant had a background of drugs and a “significant criminal history”, although it was not consistent with a history of offences of violence, the prosecutor said.

Justice Murray adjourned sentencing until Wednesday morning.

During the trial, Brown had described Peacock’s actions as “cold-blooded” and “determined”.

On the evening of August 19 2021, Peacock’s father had alerted police that his son had visited him and confessed to being a killer.

Jurors heard he had turned up at the property with Pickles’s kitten in his rucksack.

Officers went to Pickles’s home in Marylebone and found her body wrapped up and hidden under a bed, with a signed confession nearby.

Clinton Ashmore was discovered dead by friends, having suffered multiple cutting injuries

In the note, Peacock wrote that Pickles was “meant to live” and he had sworn “revenge” against those who took advantage while he was in jail.

Jurors viewed CCTV images of the last sighting of Pickles outside her flat and footage of Peacock coming and going on a bicycle.

Later on August 19, the defendant was captured on CCTV walking with Ashmore towards his Westminster flat, then leaving alone 15 minutes later.

Two hours later, Ashmore was discovered dead by friends, having suffered multiple cutting injuries.

Both victims died from similar knife wounds to the neck. The injury to Pickles suggested the 4cm knife had been plunged in to the hilt and Ashmore had nine knife wounds.

Jurors viewed CCTV images of the last sighting of Sharon Pickles outside her flat

Peacock was eventually found 6 days later on a houseboat moored on the Grand Union Canal in central London. When officers arrived, he tried to cut his own neck before being restrained.

After being treated in hospital, Peacock gave a “chilling” account, saying he had used the same knife in both killings and the attempt on his own life.

Giving evidence in his trial, Peacock insisted he was “not a monster” and he never intended to harm either of his victims.

But Brown told him: “You committed two terrible murders with your warped and angry mind, that’s the reality and you confessed to two terrible murders, didn’t you?

“You were determined to punish Sharon Pickles and you were determined to punish Clinton Ashmore.

“You intended nothing less that to kill each of them, didn’t you?”

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “Lee Peacock had recently been released from prison and was determined to blame others for his partner, Sharon, having moved on with her life while he was incarcerated. He was ruthless, murderous and had decided he was going to kill people.

"Peacock is a violent and murderous individual who has taken the lives of two people for no better reason than satisfying his own craving for violence. His not guilty plea meant that the families of the victims had to endure the anguish of hearing the horrific details of his offences in court. My thoughts are with them all today.”

Peacock will be sentenced on Wednesday at the Old Bailey.