25 January 2024 , 13:43
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An abusive thug who battered his girlfriend and left her dead body in a tent for a week has been jailed for less than five years.
Colette Law, 26, was discovered in a tent in the grounds of St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Spalding, Lincolnshire, on July 17 last year. Her boyfriend Paul Neilson, 30, was arrested and admitted assaulting Colette days before she died. Police discovered that after finding her dead body, Neilson told friends she had returned to her native Greenock, Inverclyde in Scotland.
Colette was a gifted singer and had twice auditioned to appear on ITV’s X-Factor. Last April she had moved to Spalding., to start a new life with Neilson, but was living rough after she was unable to get accommodation. Shortly before she left Scotland, she had completed a nursery nurse course to fulfil her dream of working with children.
Her heartbroken family said she died from a bleed on the brain and her body was so badly decomposed they were unable to see her to say goodbye. The delay in locating Colette’s body also meant the post-mortem was unable to confirm the cause of death.
Paul Neilson, 30, confessed to assaulting Colette on three occasions and perverting the course of justice by preventing her body from being found (Lincolnshire Police / SWNS)Investigators in Major Crime initially charged Neilson with murder, but the charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Neilson admitted assault by beating, two counts of actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice by deliberately failing to alert the authorities when he knew Colette was dead. He was jailed for four years and eight months at Lincoln Crown Court.
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After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Adrian Czajkowski, from Lincolnshire Police, said: "As we quickly and thoroughly progressed our investigation, we started to uncover a pattern of assault. He was a domestic abuse perpetrator, very simply. We found that he had assaulted her in the days before her death, as well as perverted the cause of justice, and new charges were filed."
Petite Colette was a talented singer who auditioned for the X Factor (Lincolnshire Police / SWNS)The detective continued: "This discovery was largely down to the tremendous response by members of the community who came forward with their accounts of witnessing altercations, as well as other intelligence - for that, we want to say a very big thank you. Without their input, we would never have been able to find any level of justice of Colette and her family. And now I must pay tribute to them. They have handled what is the worst thing a family can handle, with dignity and strength. Nothing we or the court system can ever do can bring Colette back, but we can see that the person who brought misery towards the end of her life, and who prevented us and her family from truly understanding what happened to lead to her death, responsible for his actions. I hope that they can now grieve in peace."
Speaking at the time of her death, Colette’s mum Patricia, 63, said: “We were very close. All she ever wanted was cuddles. She was very polite, she would say 'please' and 'thank you'. She just wanted to sit in the house and cuddle up and say 'I love you'. I can't see her because her body is so badly decomposed. Nobody should be homeless, everyone should have somewhere. The only roof my daughter has got over her head is a coffin."