Overview

• Methven pleaded guilty in June at the High Court in Glasgow to murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice and received a life sentence with a 23-year minimum term.
• Prosecutors told the court he strangled his 21-year-old partner, stabbed her 20 times—including 10 wounds to the face—and then mutilated and decapitated her body at their East Kilbride flat.
• In the two days after the killing he impersonated Phoenix in text messages to her mother, made 170 pornography searches and attempted to buy cocaine while driving her car.
• Lord Matthews described the offence as “truly dreadful” and rejected Methven’s claim of a drug-induced blackout as no excuse for the brutality.
• Phoenix Spencer-Horn’s family and community have since launched fundraising efforts in her memory and Police Scotland confirmed there is no wider risk to the public.