A "jealous" woman who stabbed her ex-partner in the heart on Christmas Day after seeing his Tinder profile has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years.
Kirsty Carless, 33, plunged a knife into 31-year-old Louis Price's heart in the early hours of December 25, 2024 after a friend sent her a screenshot of his dating profile on Tinder.
The Christmas Day attack "motivated by anger and jealousy, and fuelled by cocaine and alcohol", the trial at Stafford Crown Court heard.
It came after a night of drinking at the pub, the court heard.
Sentencing her on Thursday in front of a packed public gallery, Judge Mr Justice Choudhury said Carless, of Haling Way in Cannock, Staffordshire, had "destroyed the life of a young man and his family" when she fatally attacked him at his parents' home in Elm Road, Norton Canes.
On Wednesday, after around a day of deliberation, a jury of seven men and five women found her guilty of murder and possession of an offensive weapon by unanimous verdicts in relation to the fatal stabbing.
She was also found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a majority of 11 to one in connection with an incident in November 2024, but was cleared of intentional strangulation in relation to the same incident.
DI Lisa Holland, who led the investigation into Kirsty Carless, told LBC Ms Carless was "hard to read" and answered 'no comment' to most of the police questions during interviews.
"The trial's been extremely difficult," she said. "There's been some traumatic video footage that the family have had to look at and go through.
"And for them to sit and hear the circumstances of the case, it has just been truly awful for them. They behave with such dignity and my heart goes out to them and to Lewis's friends for what they've had to go through."
DI Holland said the case can prove to the public that domestic violence is an issue that affects people of all genders, and that there is a "stigma" around it.
"[Domestic violence] is not a gender specific crime at all. And I think domestic abuse against males is very much underreported.
"I think that there's sometimes a stigma around it and males may feel ashamed to report it, but we want males to report domestic violence. Nobody should have to suffer and go through that alone."
Senior prosecutor Narmina Rafiq said: “This was a truly awful case that shows just how severe and calculated domestic violence can be.
“Kirsty Carless did not have a sudden outburst, instead this was a deliberate and premeditated killing, following a series of events that began with jealousy over Louis Price’s use of dating apps and ended in murder,” reports the Express and Star.
“The Crown Prosecution Service built a compelling case using DNA evidence, CCTV footage, witness testimony, forensic tests and pathological evidence that not only proved Kirsty Carless intended to kill Mr Price but showed exactly how it happened, leaving the jury certain of her guilt.
“Her unbelievably cruel and heartless actions have robbed six children of their father and his parents of their beloved son. We hope today’s outcome brings them some comfort. Our condolences remain with Mr Price’s family.”
Carless showed no reaction in the dock as Mr Justice Choudhury passed his sentence.
He said the defendant had shown "no remorse" for what she had done and instead falsely claimed she could not remember what had happened.
