A MUM has revealed her heartache after her daughter “begged” to go to town instead of meeting police about her stalker on the day he killed her.
Holly Newton, 15, had been hounded by a 16-year-old teen leading up to her brutal murder.
Her mum Micala Trussler had grown so concerned by his unwanted advances that she had alerted her daughter’s school.
After the boy, who has been convicted of murder, showed up uninvited at their home in Haltwhistle, she arranged a meeting with police.
But Holly “begged” her mum to let her go into town after school on the day of her murder rather than come home to see the police for the 4pm chat.
It was rescheduled for later that evening but tragically Holly was stabbed to death by the teen stalker after he followed her from school.
Micala told the BBC: “In the end, the biggest mistake of my life.”
Holly had sent a friend a chilling message about her killer just hours before he ambushed her on January 27 last year.
She wrote: “Apparently (the boy) is gonna meet to me outside of school.
“So he’s basically stalking me at this point.
“He’s gonna follow me until I talk to him”.
After leaving school, Holly went shopping with her friends – unaware the teen was following her.
He tailed her for around 45 minutes making sure he was “careful not to be seen”.
Haunting footage showed the teen staring at Holly as she entered a pizza restaurant with a friend in Hexham, Northumberland
He was then captured chatting to the schoolgirl at a bus stop after she caved and agreed to speak to him.
But just seconds later, he lured her down an alleyway and stabbed her “many, many times”.
Staff at the pizza restaurant heard Holly screaming and rushed out to find him attacking her with a kitchen knife he brought from home.
They managed to “forcibly” remove the teen, who claimed Holly had been “horrible” or “awful” to him.
He then added: “Oh what have I done?”
Holly was taken to hospital after suffering 36 injuries – including 12 stab wounds and 19 slash injuries – in less than a minute.
Tragically she couldn’t be saved and was declared dead shortly after the horror.
When he was arrested, the boy – now aged 17 – told police: “I was meant to kill myself but it went too far.”
The boy previously admitted manslaughter – claiming his mind “went blank” during the attack – but was found guilty of murder.
He was also convicted of wounding with intent after one of Holly’s male friends was injured while trying to help her.
Following the verdict, Micala described how her “beautiful child” loved her family, sport, animals and dancing.
The teen was remanded into custody to be sentenced on October 31.
Holly’s devastated mum pays tribute
Micala said: “Holly was a beautiful child. As my first born she was a clingy child and never left my side, we did everything together. She grew into a funny and happy teenager who would do anything for anyone.
“Looking back at the funny times with Holly makes me smile, she used to call an elbow an elly-bow and one minute would be an avid vegetarian then the next minute tucking into a McDonald’s burger laughing.
“There was nothing that Holly couldn’t do, she loved all types of sport and would give anything a go at least once. From a young age she fell in love with dancing, it gave her the opportunity to express herself and helped her self confidence enormously, it genuinely made her feel fearless.
“Holly’s favourite place in the world was Alton Towers, she loved to go on the biggest rollercoasters and thrived on the adrenaline rush and overcoming her fears while the rest of us were terrified which she thought was hilarious.
“At school Holly was a quiet student who just go on with her work, there was never a bad report from her teachers. When Holly started at the Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham, she felt like she belonged, she had such a small tight knit group of friends who were always there for each other.
“Holly was passionate about her family; she hated upsetting people and would do anything to make people smile. She loved animals, her cat Maxi every morning would go to her bedroom door and meow until Holly got up to let him onto her bed, to this day Maxi still does this however Holly isn’t there to open the door.”
