Wirral woman jailed for eight years over loan shark killing

Jan 5 2012 By John Sutton

A WIRRAL woman has been jailed for manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court.

Rachel Horton, 20, was today sent to prison for eight years over the death of Cheshire man Martin Ithell.

He was blasted in the chest with a shotgun after being ushered to their home in Frodsham by her former lover Scott Davidson, 23, in March last year.

Horton, then 19, then handed him a knife from the kitchen which he then used to repeatedly stab Mr Ithell as he lay dying.

Davidson, of Hawthorne Road, Frodsham, was jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years for the murder.

Judge Clement Goldstone QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, told how Horton, of Little Sutton, “was no shrinking violet” and whose role in the killing was “callous and inexcusable”.

In November, a  jury found Davidson, 23, guilty of murdering Mr Ithell.

There was a hung jury in relation to the murder charge against his Horton, 20. But in a dramatic twist she pleaded guilty to manslaughter at a hearing in December.

Judge Goldstone described Mr Ithell as a debt collector who offered limited sums of money to other at exorbinant interest rates. Davidson borrowed £16,000 five months before the murder which he blew on bills and a Subaru Impreza.

Martin's family paid the following tribute: "We all miss him so much and will never come to terms with what has happened to him.

"Martin was the most loyal, kind, generous and caring man, and was always there to help anyone who needed him.

"We his family are so fortunate to have shared our lives with him, but it is so unfair that he has been so cruelly taken from us. This is something that none of us will ever get over.

"To anyone who thinks it is OK to engage in gun and knife crime, please stop and think how much devastation and heartache your actions may cause."

Detective Inspector Helen Spooner who led the investigation, said: "Davidson claimed he had shot Martin by accident in self defence. However I believe his actions leading up to the murder show that he had planned the  attack and had no intention of letting Martin walk out of that house alive.

"Horton has never given a clear explanation of what the extent of her involvement was but she has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, showing she was connected to Martin′s death."