Teenager, 18, ditched by girlfriend made her listen on the phone as he beat and stabbed to death total stranger he picked up in the pub

• Reece Ludlow was jailed for life for killing Louisa Brennan after picking her up at a pub
• He left the 35-year-old mother of three naked and dying on the floor while he called his ex to tell her he had 'done something really bad'
• Police found battered body in his bloodstained flat
• His former girlfriend described him as 'cold and evil' and said she had dumped him for being aggressive
• Family said Ms Brennan was 'kind and friendly' but 'fragile'

By Emma Reynolds

A teenager dumped by his girlfriend made her listen on the phone as a mother of three he had brutally attacked bled to death in his home.
Reece Ludlow, 18, was jailed for life today for killing 35-year-old Louisa Brannan by beating her over the head with a frying pan and stabbing her 25 times with two knives.
Ludlow picked up Ms Brannan at a pub and they had sex at his flat in Sutton, south London, before the brutal murder.

Sick: Louisa Brannan, left, was murdered by Reece Ludlow, who phoned his ex-girlfriend while she lay dying on the floor of his home

He then attacked her before phoning his ex-girlfriend, who he said he had not got over, to tell her what he had done.
A horrified Miss Pronsan could hear Ms Brannan, from Huddersfield, screaming 'I'm dying' in the background.
Ludlow had admitted manslaughter but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

He was relying on two psychiatric reports from doctors, but they withdrew their support and he admitted murder moments before he was to give evidence in his defence. 

 

Woolwich Crown Court heard Miss Pronsan had dumped Ludlow because of his violent and aggressive behaviour.
He told his ex-girlfriend he had attacked the woman because she had called his mother a b***h.
‘Once they were back at the flat there was some kind of sexual contact between them,’ said Adrian Darbishire, prosecuting.
'Not long after that she was subjected to a brutal attack that led, after some hours, to her death in the flat.’
Miss Pronsan said Ludlow was ‘cold and evil’, after he phoned her and said: ‘Baby, I’ve done something really bad.’

Louisa Brannan paid a terrible price for those emotions of yours which, you chose on that night, not to limit or control. Your victim was naked, defenceless and in unfamiliar surroundings when you subjected her to a sustained and brutal attack.- JUDGE NICHOLAS HILLIARD

He told her he had stabbed the victim, adding: ‘She’s in the kitchen and there’s blood everywhere.’

Mr Darbishire said: ‘Speaking from the flat, he began to describe what he had done. She could be heard crying for help, literally begging for her life. Nothing was done to help her.’
Ludlow later rang his ex-girlfriend again to tell Miss Pronsan she was dead.
He told her: ‘Come and help me, you will make it better, just come and see me, I only want to be with you, that’s all I want.’
Ludlow then called his mother, who alerted the police.
When officers arrived at the flat in the early hours of March 14 last year they were confronted by a bloodbath.
The kitchen and bedroom doors were covered in blood and Miss Brannan’s naked body was discovered in the bathroom.
A serrated knife and a frying pan covered in hair and blood were found in the kitchen, while another knife was found on the floor.
After a five-day manhunt, Ludlow, now 20, was arrested on March 19, after he fell out of a train at Victoria Station and injured his head.
Sentencing him to life imprisonment, with a 17-year minimum, Judge Nicholas Hilliard told Ludlow: 'Your victim Louisa Brannan has had her own difficulties in life. Her sister Kayleigh learned of her murder whilst herself dying of cancer.
'She was 35 years old when it was her misfortune to meet you.'
Judge Hilliard said he was satisfied Ms Brannan had not abused or insulted Ludlow's family, as he had claimed, and that he had been an 'enthusiastic participant' in sexual activity with his victim before he killed her.
'I am satisfied that you became frustrated and angry when you did not receive the comfort from Miss Brannan that you sought,' he said, as more than a dozen members of the victim's family packed the public gallery.

Woolwich Crown Court, pictured, heard Fon Pronsan had dumped Ludlow because of his violent and aggressive behaviour

He said it was clear that Ludlow had not been able to cope after his break up with Miss Pronsan.
'Louisa Brannan paid a terrible price for those emotions of yours which, you chose on that night, not to limit or control.
'Your victim was naked, defenceless and in unfamiliar surroundings when you subjected her to a sustained and brutal attack.
'She did not, as you know, die straight away. Instead over several hours, about five, she was at your mercy in that flat, naked and dying.
'She must have been terrified and you showed her no mercy.
'Your response was not to seek proper help for her, but after a while telephone Miss Pronsan.
'She was heard to scream and ask for help and you were heard to abuse her and tell her to get up.
'You had several hours to show her one ounce of compassion and you chose not to. You are extremely dangerous when thwarted.'
In a victim impact statement read to the court, her mother Anita Brannan said: 'Louisa was a kind, generous and loving person who always saw the best in everyone.
'She was friendly but also very fragile and vulnerable. She never gave up trying to be a better person and we all wanted so much to see her happy.
'Before her death it seemed she was finally in a good place.'
She said that after her other daughter had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour, the family had gathered in good spirits to celebrate Kayleigh's wedding.
'It was shortly after this that Louisa was taken,' she added. 'The pain and suffering has ripped the family apart.'
Ms Brannan had been living in Doncaster but had moved in with her father in Mitcham so she could support her sister through her illness.
Kayleigh, 22, died of cancer in August last year, blaming herself for her sister being in the area the night she was murdered.
'Sometimes we try to shut it off, but it is always there in the background,' said Mrs Brannan.
'We will never understand why our family has been put through this and why she was taken from us.
'Every minute of every day we have to face the horrific, lonely and painful way in which Louisa faced her last hours.
'It will be with us for the rest of our lives. We miss her so much.'
The judge told Ludlow: 'You had a number of hours to show her some compassion and you chose not to. You are extremely dangerous when thwarted.'
Speaking after the sentence, Detective Inspector Dave Reid said: 'Reece Ludlow not only attacked Louisa Brannan in the most vicious and violent manner but he failed to call an ambulance and instead spent hours speaking on the telephone.
'He did not account for his actions during his police interviews and has never properly explained
why he inflicted such a fate on Ms Brannan.
'Ms Brannan's family has been left devastated by her death and I only hope that Ludlow's conviction will go in some small way to comfort them.'

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