Overview

• Dean Johnstone attacked his ex-partner Karen Youdell at his Newton Heath home on July 28, 2023, stamping on her head and torso and leaving her in a coma until her death in May 2024.
• On July 10, 2025, Manchester Crown Court sentenced Johnstone to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17½ years after he pleaded guilty to murder in April.
• His sister Lisa Johnstone and her partner Glenn Nelson were each jailed for three years and four months, and his sister Yvonne Johnstone was given two years and three months for perverting the course of justice.
• Prosecutors showed that the trio moved Youdell’s body, staged a drinking-related accident and waited seven hours before calling emergency services in an effort to conceal the crime.
• Released 999 call recordings and body-worn camera footage were central in exposing the cover-up and bringing the case to formal closure.