MURDERER Will Blencowe will serve a life sentence for fatally stabbing Connor Tremble in a “vicious and carefully planned” attack.

Yesterday the 21-year-old was told he would spend a minimum of 23 years behind bars for murdering Connor on February 13 this year.

This prompted a sigh of relief from the 17-year-old’s mother, Lisa Tremble, who said “always have faith’’ after the Oxford Crown Court hearing.

Blencowe, who grew up in West Oxfordshire and attended schools in Clanfield, Burford and Chipping Norton, stabbed Connor 15 times in the teenager’s flat in Fairacres Road, Oxford.

He showed no emotion as he was led away to start his prison sentence.

On Thursday a jury found him unanimously guilty of murder after a 13-day trial.

The prosecution said he planned the murder because he was jealous of Connor’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend Aimee Harrison.

After the hearing Connor's mother. Lisa Tremble, said: “I can’t say I'm happy or glad, I don’t know what to feel.

“I’m satisfied with the sentence he was given.

“I was robbed of my one and only son, so was his dad and everyone else.’’

The senior investigating officer in the case, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Glover, called Blencowe’s crime a “pre-planned, unprovoked attack fuelled by jealousy”.

He said: “His sentence reflects the severity of the crime Will Blencowe committed.

“Throughout this process he has shown no remorse for his actions, which led to Connor’s death.

“He has not done anything to help the police with their investigation and he will now have a long time in prison to reflect upon his actions.

“Our investigation was especially frustrated by Blencowe travelling to Stratford-upon-Avon and escaping with the clothing and the knife used in the stabbing.”

Passing sentence, Judge Patrick Eccles said the lives of the teenager’s family had been “utterly changed” by Blencowe’s actions.

He told the defendant: “It is difficult now to comprehend the terror and pain Connor Tremble must have experienced. He was confronted without warning in his own home by a man he did not at the time recognise, who was armed with a knife.

“And who then in a frenzy of anger, jealousy and hate, stabbed him 15 times to his body with a further 11 thrusts with the knife that missed him.”

He added: “You will never understand the depth of pain and sorrow you have inflicted not only on Connor but also on his mother, father and other family members.”

Blencowe’s sentence means he will serve a minimum of 23 years before he is eligible for release, which will only happen if the Parole Board rules he is no longer a risk to the public. He will then spend the rest of his life on licence.

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