Joe Atkinson sentenced to life with minimum of 16 years in prison for murder of Poppy Devey Waterhouse in Leeds
25-year-old Joe Atkinson was sentenced today for the murder of his girlfriend Poppy Devey Waterhouse.
The 24-year-old maths graduate died of head and neck injuries at the flat they shared in Richmond Hill last December. Atkinson initially denied murder but dramatically changed his plea to guilty last week. The couple met at the University of Nottingham and Poppy was working at William Hill's head offices in Leeds. Atkinson attended Wetherby High School. He was charged with murder after Poppy's body was discovered at a flat at the Saxton Flats development in Richmond Hill, Leeds, just 11 days before Christmas. Originally from Frome in Somerset, Poppy was a statistics graduate from the University of Nottingham and was living and working in Leeds at the time of her death. The victim and defendant had been in a relationship before he killed her in December. He will be sentenced today for the charge. Follow the latest from court below - please refresh for updates