Cage fighter found guilty of murdering ex-partner and attempting to kill teenager she was sleeping with

Paul Robson repeatedly kicked Caroline Kayll in the head while wearing heavy work boots, court hears

Robson had pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and blackmail (Northumbria Police)

A cage fighter has been jailed for murdering his ex-partner after blackmailing her about an illegal relationship she was having with an under-age boy.

Paul Robson, 50, was was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 35 years after Newcastle Crown Court heard how he launched a “cruel and calculated” attack on Caroline Kayll, 47, and the teenager at her home in Linton, Northumberland, last November.

The former MMA fighter, of Stanley Street, Wallsend, was also found guilty of trying to murder the teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. He was convicted on Tuesday.

Robson’s repeated kicks to his ex’s head, while wearing heavy work boots, inflicted fatal brain injuries. He may also have tried to strangle her as well, the jury was told.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Lavender did not accept there was any provocation for the attack, telling Robson: “You were upset when you learned of her relationship but you had known of it for over two weeks when you chose to drive from Glasgow to her home.”

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Branded “a coward” by the prosecution, the court was told Robson chopped off Ms Kayll’s hair in clumps and slashed her on the buttocks. He also repeatedly attacked the boy with scissors and a meat cleaver, sprayed them both with ammonia and stole their phones.

Nicholas Lumley QC, prosecuting, said: “He was never going to do anything other than ruin her.”

Robson, who has 21 convictions for 92 offences over more than 30 years, denied murder, claiming it was the boy who attacked Ms Kayll, and said he struggled to get the better of the less-powerfully built teenager in the ensuing brawl.

He claimed to have first met Ms Kayll, a teacher, in 2005 while he was an inmate at HMP Northumberland where she worked as an education officer. They began a clandestine affair which resumed years later when he was jailed once again in 2014 for drug and firearms offences.

After Ms Kayll left her prison officer husband and Robson was released, he moved into her home in Linton – but the pair split up weeks before the murder, at which point Robson found out about her illicit relationship and began blackmailing her.

The jury heard how Ms Kayll confided in a friend that her ex was blackmailing her for £35,000 and that he had threatened to “to ruin her” by telling her school if she did not pay up.

Over 10 days in November, she transferred £29,000 to Robson and took out a £10,500 loan, having previously been solvent.

But on 15 November, Robson drove three hours from Glasgow to Linton, having bought a locksmith’s bar, a magnetic GPS car tracker, screwdrivers, pliers, a wrench and the ammonia. CCTV showed him loitering outside her house.

Witnesses heard a female voice shout “get out” and later that evening Robson knocked on his former neighbour’s house to say “Caroline was in a bad way”, Mr Lumley QC said.

He then fled to Glasgow and remained at large while police made appeals to trace him – they found and arrested him six days later.

Ms Kayll was placed on life support after the attack, at a hospital in Newcastle, but died days later.

Following the conviction, detective inspector Graeme Barr of Northumbria Police said the case was “pre-meditated and demonstrated horrendous levels of violence”.

“There is no doubt [Robson] wanted to kill or permanently disfigure both of his victims and he succeeded in killing his former partner and has left his teenage victim scarred for life,” Det Insp Barr said.

“Not only that, but he spent the days that followed trying to avoid police before attempting to pin Caroline's murder on a vulnerable, teenage boy.”

He added: “There is a very real chance he will never experience freedom again and I hope that can bring some justice to his victims.”

Additional reporting by Press Association