A man who beat his “fragile and vulnerable” ex-partner to death over several days has been jailed for at least 21 years and four months.

Melissa Eastick, 36, suffered more than 100 injuries, including broken bones, numerous bruises and cigarette burns, when she died in Sunderland in October 2023.

Stephen Todd, 41 years old, admitted murder after first day of trial and has now been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term to serve.

Ms Eastick’s family told Newcastle Crown Court she “just wanted to be loved”.

Three months before the attack, Todd was given a suspended prison sentence for assaulting Ms Eastick, the court heard, and she returned to him after he was released from remand in prison.

The last recorded sighting of Ms Eastick was on October 2, when she and Todd went to a nearby supermarket to buy food before returning to her flat at Stockton Terrace in Grangetown.

She was known to be alive four days later when she answered a call from a mobile phone company, but after that only Todd knows what happened to her, the court heard.

At around 7am BST on October 17, Todd called 999 to say he was unable to wake Ms Eastick, prosecutor Peter Glenser KC said, but paramedics found her dead in a dark bedroom.

Todd claimed she had injured herself by falling down the stairs, but it could be proven that her multiple injuries had been inflicted over the course of several days, with the killer being the only person seen entering or leaving the apartment at the during this period.

Both had a history of alcohol dependence, with Ms Eastick described by Mr Glenser as “fragile and vulnerable” and having spent a long time in shelters and homeless shelters.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Eastick’s sister Samantha Turnbull said she was the “baby of the family”, being “small and delicate”.

Ms Turnbull said the family had repeatedly tried to help Ms Eastick, who was a much-loved sister, mother and aunt, and they felt guilty and “angry and frustrated” that she continued to return to Todd.

“He didn’t care about her at all,” Ms Turnbull said, adding they had never seen her without injuries inflicted by Todd.

“We can’t stop thinking about her final days when she was beaten, repeatedly stomped on and rendered unconscious,” Ms Turnbull said.

“She died alone and in pain.”

Mr Glenser said Ms Eastick suffered 123 injuries over the course of a fortnight, most to her face, head and abdomen.

Some may have been imposed a day after Todd attended a Probation Service session on domestic violence and building healthier relationships, the court heard.

Ms Eastick’s serious head injuries would have required very significant force, the court heard.

Prosecutors also examined whether Todd raped her, but could not prove that the sexual activity with her before her death was not consensual, Mr. Glenser said.

He added that only Todd could explain his motives for inflicting “severe and repeated beatings over a long period of time”, but that Ms Eastick must have experienced “days and days of mental torment”.

“She must have known what was going to happen,” Mr. Glesner said, adding that she had previously told police she thought “it would end up killing her.”

In mitigation, Toby Hedworth KC said Todd was a “drunk, violent thug” who used Ms Eastick as a “punching bag”, but there was “no intention to kill”, adding that Todd was “not the brightest of souls” and didn’t do it. know the limits of the harm he was causing.

“He did, over several days, very horrible things,” Mr Hedworth said.

“He knows he has to pay the price.”

Judge Lambert said Ms Eastick’s family had been “devastated and shocked” by her death.

She said Todd subjected her to “a number of brutal attacks” with “great force”, including kicking and kicking her in the head and blows that fractured her facial bones , ribs and spine.

The judge said Ms Eastick was a “small and fragile” woman who would have been unable to defend herself, adding that the final days must have been “terrifying and immensely painful”.

She said Ms Eastick must have been unconscious for at least 24 hours, if not several days, before she died, but Todd did not seek any medical help for her.

Instead, he went to see friends while she lay in his flat, which showed a “callous disregard” for her, Ms Justice Lambert said.

The judge said Todd also clearly had “emotional power” over Ms Eastick who believed it was a “romantic” relationship, which was a “breach of the trust and security that normally exists between people in an intimate relationship.

She also said the remorse Todd felt “came very late in the day.”