Martial arts enthusiast who killed partner and held man captive jailed for life

Jason Bell, 42, attacked 37-year-old Nicole Hurley with at least two knives at their home in Primrose Hill, north-west London.

Martial artist enthusiast Jason Bell has been found guilty of stabbing his partner to death (Metropolitan Police/PA)

A martial arts enthusiast who stabbed his partner to death before holding a friend captive and driving through a police cordon has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years.

Jason Bell, 42, attacked Nicole Hurley, 37, with at least two knives at their home in Primrose Hill, north-west London, in the early hours of October 10 2021.

Afterwards, Bell turned up at the house of a friend with a large army-style knife, accused him of sleeping with Ms Hurley, and used his van to drive through a police tape before checking himself into a mental health centre.

On Thursday, Old Bailey judge Alexia Durran sentenced Bell to life imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for 36 months upon his release.

I had to bury my daughter, and her children had to attend her funeral

Nicole Hurley's father Tom

Ms Hurley’s father Tom, said: “We’ve all lost a hugely important part of our family, and the thought that none of us will share our lives with Nicole ever again, and that she will miss so much of her children’s lives, deeply saddens us every day. This should never have happened, and it didn’t need to happen.

“I had to bury my daughter, and her children had to attend her funeral. This won’t ever make any sense and we will forever wish that things were different for all of us.

“Domestic violence should have no place in a modern, civilised society. To exert control over another person by taking advantage of their vulnerabilities, and slowly manipulating them behind the false pretence of some twisted idea of love is one of the most despicable, abhorrent behaviours.

“This brutal, cowardly and vicious crime, mostly but not only perpetrated against women and girls, ought to stop.”

A jury had deliberated for three hours and 42 minutes to find him guilty of murder, dangerous driving and false imprisonment earlier this year.

Previously, prosecutor Michelle Nelson KC said the couple had been in a “difficult and volatile” relationship since Ms Hurley was in her teens.

Behind closed doors their relationship was said to be “toxic” and Bell, who trained at a club in martial arts, would “explode” and punch and kick Ms Hurley.

Ms Nelson said the attack was witnessed by two young people in the house.

She went on: “It was an attack that appears to have come in three or four parts and one in which Nicole Hurley sustained multiple stab wounds, the result of the use of more than one knife.”

During the onslaught, Ms Hurley was heard to say: “J, what are you doing?” and: “J, stop”, the court heard.

The defendant said: “She’s done too much to me over the years. I cannot take it any more. It’s driving me insane. I cannot come back. I’m not coming back from this.”

Ms Hurley had repeatedly asked for an ambulance to be called because she could not breathe but Bell had taken all the mobile phones before leaving the house.

Bell had stashed a rucksack containing six phones and a bloody knife in a garden in Victoria Mews, Maida Vale, near the home of his longstanding friend Jeremy Drewitt.

Bell then turned up at Mr Drewitt’s home wearing a blood-stained dressing gown.

He told Mr Drewitt that he had stabbed Ms Hurley and claimed he would hand himself in.

He demanded to know if his friend had slept with Ms Hurley, saying if he was not truthful it was going to end badly before producing a foot-long knife.

Ms Nelson said: “Mr Drewitt pushed the defendant away when he got close and tried to get out of the flat. He was frightened that he was going to be stabbed.

“The defendant was a big man, he estimates 19 stone, and Jeremy Drewitt knew he had martial arts training. The defendant pushed Mr Drewitt to the floor where he cut his hip on a vase that smashed.”

Later, Bell demanded Mr Drewitt hand over the keys to his van and he drove through police cordon tape.

A police officer saw him approaching and shouted at him to “stop”, but the vehicle kept going and she was forced to move behind a police car.

Bell eventually slowed down in traffic, giving Mr Drewitt the opportunity to undo his seatbelt and jump out of the moving vehicle then make his way back to the cordon.

Rather than handing himself in, Bell walked into a mental health assessment centre in St Pancras and asked to be sectioned.

Armed police went to arrest Bell at the centre and the defendant was Tasered before being taken into custody.

While in custody, Bell claimed Ms Hurley had told him she was having a baby and that he was not the father – although jurors were told she was not pregnant at the time of her death.

In a police interview, he also claimed Mr Drewitt had given him permission to stay and use his van.

On the incident at the police cordon, he said: “I did drive the car, not fast, a speed that if she (the officer) didn’t move, I could avoid her. I did not wish to harm her. I panicked.”

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Eastwood said: “Nicole had been attempting to remove herself from the relationship with Bell. She had been isolated and controlled due to his paranoia.

“It is only right that he spends considerable years of his life in a place where he can no longer hurt the innocent.”