A double murderer has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 39 years after he slit the throat of his girlfriend and an associate within weeks of being released from prison.
Lee Peacock was sentenced at the Old Bailey over the murders of Sharon Pickles, 46, and Clinton Ashmore, 59, on Wednesday.
Yesterday, a jury found the ‘warped and angry’ 50-year-old guilty of murdering Ms Pickles and Mr Ashmore in a two-day knife spree in August 2021.
Mr Justice Murray handed down his sentence in a court room packed with grieving relatives on Wednesday, while Peacock refused to attend.
Lee Peacock has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of the double murder of his girlfriend and an associate
Lee Peacock has been on trial over the murders of Sharon Pickles, left, and Clinton Ashmore, right, at separate addresses in central London, hours apart, last August
In his remarks addressed to Peacock, who will receive them in written form, Mr Justice Murray said: ‘The minimum term I must impose in this case means that even if you live a long life, there is a strong possibility that you will die in prison even before you are eligible for consideration for release by the Parole Board’.
Mr Justice Murray said that Peacock ‘lashed out at Sharon in a fit of rage, jealous of her sexual relationship with another man’ while a bedridden man she cared for slept in another room.
He concluded that while the killing of Ms Pickles was not premeditated, the later murder of Mr Ashmore was.
Chilling CCTV released yesterday by the Metropolitan Police shows Peacock arriving by bicycle at the building where Ms Pickles lived at around 7.30am on August 18.
Just over an hour later, at 8.49am, CCTV shows him cycling away from her flat.
In that time, police believe Peacock knifed Ms Pickles to death before wrapping her body in a duvet and hiding it under the bed.
Within hours, Peacock then went to the home of Mr Ashmore and slit his throat too.
Yesterday, the ‘warped and angry’ 50-year-old was found guilty of murdering Sharon Pickles, 46, and Clinton Ashmore, 59, in separate attacks in Westminster over two days.
He is due to be sentenced today.
The Old Bailey heard Peacock was out to ‘punish’ his partner and her friend during a two-day violent spree.
The self-confessed burglar and thief turned the 4cm-long knife on himself when police tracked him down to a houseboat on the Grand Union Canal after a five-day manhunt.
Peacock, who had only been released from prison on June 4, 2021, admitted killing the pair who he claimed were having a relationship while he was in jail, but denied it was murder.
He claimed the death of his ‘other half’ was a ‘pure accident’ and that Mr Ashmore ‘went mental’ and punched him in the head after Peacock confessed to killing Ms Pickles.
Jurors viewed CCTV images of Peacock – it shows Lee Peacock at North Wembley Station on the evening of August 19
The last sighting of Sharon Pickles before she was found dead at her flat in Marylebone. Image released by the Met Police
A jury retired at the Old Bailey on Tuesday and deliberated for two hours and 20 minutes to find Peacock guilty of the double murder.
Five members of the victims’ families celebrated and cried as the verdicts were delivered, while Peacock showed no emotion.
Ms Pickles’ father, David Pickles, said in a victim impact statement that losing his daughter had had a devastating effect on him, only two years after the death of his wife in 2019.
He said: ‘It left me numb, I have found it impossible to celebrate birthdays or even Christmas because my daughter wasn’t at rest and had no peace.
‘It doesn’t feel real that Sharon is gone, I miss her more than words can describe.’
Her brother, Robert Pickles, said: ‘When details started emerging about Sharon’s death I couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
‘The last 17 months have taken a toll mentally and psychically. The hardest part was listening to someone trying to excuse and justify their actions.’ Ms Pickles left behind a daughter.
Mr Ashmore’s sister, Claire Ashmore, said: ‘Clint had a great life and met people from all over the world.
‘We loved him dearly. No words can share the pain caused, our world is shattered and changed forever.
‘We had to tell our elderly frail mother her son had been killed, the worst news to tell a parent. We had to watch her bury her first-born son.
‘Souls like Clint are rare, the kindest soul ever, he was not only our brother but our friend, someone who shone brightly in this world and his life was cruelly put out by someone who gave no thought or care for his actions.’
Peacock had previously told jurors: ‘I know I’m not a monster. I never wanted to harm my partner. Clinton, I’m sorry but he caused it.
Chilling CCTV released by the Metropolitan Police shows Peacock leaving his girlfriend’s building by bicycle at around 8.49am. He arrived an hour earlier. They believe during this time he slit her throat and hid her body in a duvet under the bed
‘He moved in on my woman and then told me that he did and with a rain of punches.’
Peacock had an appalling criminal record for multiple burglaries and thefts before he even met Ms Pickles in 2004.
Peacock told jurors he came from a good family in Hertfordshire and went to school in St Albans.
But he started smoking cannabis when he was 14, before progressing to LSD, Ecstasy, MDMA, cocaine and eventually crack.
He was released from prison just two months before the killings but said: ‘I’ve never been violent up until what happened, I wasn’t even violent in the 15 years I’d been with her.
‘Obviously for chunks I was in jail, but she was my princess, not a hair on her head would ever get hurt, by me, or if I was around.’
Ed Brown, KC, prosecuting, said Peacock murdered Ms Pickles when she laughed at him and said he did not have the courage to kill anyone.
In the days before the incident Ms Pickles had texted Peacock and said: ‘I’m done with you… leave me alone. It’s evil what you’re doing to me… we both know it’s over… you’re wicked.’
Ms Pickles sent another message which read: ‘Do not come in this house, put the key on the table outside and leave me alone you two-faced piece of s***.’
On August 18, Peacock texted family to say he was in ‘serious trouble’ adding: ‘My time on this earth is very limited.’
He said: ‘After this conversation with me you will never hear from me again… I will never be released from prison.
‘My hand has been forced after what he did last night.’
On the evening of August 19, 2021, Peacock’s father alerted police that his son had visited him and confessed to being a killer.
When officers arrived at Ms Pickle’s home, they found her body hidden under a bed.
Her throat had been cut and a note, signed by Peacock, was discovered at the scene.
In interview, Peacock told officers that he intended to kill four people whom he felt had ‘taken advantage’ of Sharon while he was in prison.
But this plan went awry when he told her he was going to kill a man he believed she had been seeing. She laughed and in response, he killed her.
Peacock told officers he had decided to kill Clinton as he believed he had been part of the group who had ‘taken advantage’ of Sharon.
He attacked Clinton with the same knife he had used to kill her.
Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley said: ‘Lee Peacock had recently been released from prison and was determined to blame others for his partner, Sharon, having moved on with her life while he was incarcerated. He was ruthless, murderous and had decided he was going to kill people.
‘Peacock is a violent and murderous individual who has taken the lives of two people for no better reason than satisfying his own craving for violence.
‘His not guilty plea meant that the families of the victims had to endure the anguish of hearing the horrific details of his offences in court. My thoughts are with them all today.’
