On Friday 11 March Russell was sentenced to a whole life order for three offences of murder. He was also convicted of the rape of one of his female victims just moments before he killed her and had earlier pleaded guilty to the serious assault and robbery of another victim and a further two robberies.
His campaign of crime took place in Coventry and Leamington Spa over a period of nine days in October 2020. None of these crimes was random or motiveless. Each was committed for a specific purpose. Of the murders, Russell killed Mr Williams because he believed that Mr Williams had slept with his girlfriend. He killed Mrs Williams in an effort to avoid being apprehended for her son’s murder. He raped Ms McGregor for his own sexual gratification and then killed her to conceal the fact that he had raped her. The judge described Russell as an “exceptionally dangerous man”.
The case was widely reported in the press and can be accessed at the following links - The Guardian, The BBC and Evening Standard.
Zoe Johnson KC