Dick Pic Killer Gets 18 Years Behind Bars
A jealous thug who beat his teenage girlfriend to death after finding a picture of another man’s penis on her phone has been jailed for at least 18 years.
Scott Clifford, 33, had been drinking and taking selfies with 18-year-old partner Natasha Hill at his grandfather’s home in Thamesmead, southeast London, when he discovered the explicit photo.
He flew into a jealous rage, inflicting a fatal head wound among more than 50 injuries during a brutal and sustained onslaught in the early hours of April 15 last year.
Neighbours heard screams coming from the address, where Clifford had been living, at around 3am that morning.
But he did not call the emergency services until more than an hour later, at 4:19am, claiming she had simply fallen down the stairs.
Ms Hill was found cold and unresponsive by paramedics before Clifford was arrested after they spotted him trying to wash some of his clothes while they battled to save her life.
He told jurors he laughed off the picture of the penis because it was so small.
But it emerged during the trial that Clifford has a string of previous convictions for attacking girlfriends.
In a moving victim impact statement, Ms Hill’s sister Melissa described how she was haunted by her death after warning that ‘if she did not leave him he was going to kill her’.
‘I told her that I believed he was not right for her and that he would hurt her in the future,’ she said.
‘What really haunts me was that I told her that if she did not leave him he was going to kill her.
‘It has destroyed a part of us. It is a pain that will never go away.
‘Natasha always believed that she could change him.’
Clifford was convicted of murder last week.
He refused to return to court today (mon) when Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC jailed him for life with a minimum term of 18 years.
‘Scott Clifford, it must be said, is a man with a volatile and violent temper,’ he said.
‘He was possessive, jealous and isolating and prone to outbursts of serious violence, especially when he had been drinking.
‘She must have suffered before death, either because of the prolonged nature of the beating or because she would have suffered a short lucidity in what was defined as extreme pain after her skull was fractured.
‘I don’t find that he had any intention to kill her but he did have an intention to cause her very serious injury which led to her death.’
The couple met in late 2016 and Clifford had been living in Thamesmead after his grandfather was moved to a care home in October the following year.
‘It was a tempestuous, on-and-off relationship, breaking up and then getting back together again,’ prosecutor Tom Little QC told jurors.
‘She kept coming back to him, despite in fact, previously having been the victim of violence at his own hands, or more accurately to say his fists.’
Mr Little told the court about two previous incidents where Clifford had attacked the teenager.
A witness to one of them described him ‘treating her like a rag doll’ in an assault compared to ‘something out of American wrestling.’
The court heard the pair had been shopping at Tesco at around midday on April 14 last year.
When they returned to the two-storey property they spent the afternoon drinking and taking pictures together.
Phone evidence later revealed Ms Hill had stopped using her mobile at some point that afternoon, something jurors heard was unusually long and inactive period.
The court was told paramedics arrived less than 10 minutes after Clifford dialled 999 the following morning but they were unable to save her.
Mr Little said: ‘Natasha Hill was found upstairs in the bedroom and was found on the floor besides the bed. She had swollen and bruised eyes, she had blood on her face, in her hair and in her mouth.’
Her smashed phone was also discovered under the mattress of Clifford’s grandfather’s old bed in the living room.
Detectives found the explicit image that had been sent to her by another man.
‘It is a pretty significant coincidence in this volatile kind of relationship that afternoon, and not long before the mobile phone stops being used by Natasha Hill, that the picture is sent,’ Mr Little said.
‘This is evidence that is of potential importance in this case.
‘Is there a link between the damage to the phone, the contents of the phone – that photograph, its unusual non-use that afternoon and the death of Natasha Hill?’
David Etherington QC, defending, said Clifford suffered from mental and physical health issues and he claimed to suffer from a split personality named ‘Ronnie’ who burst out of him when he was confronted by lying.
Clifford, of Sewell Road, Thamesmead, southeast London, was convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years.
A jealous thug who beat his teenage girlfriend to death after finding a picture of another man’s penis on her phone has been jailed for at least 18 years.
Scott Clifford, 33, had been drinking and taking selfies with 18-year-old partner Natasha Hill at his grandfather’s home in Thamesmead, southeast London, when he discovered the explicit photo.
He flew into a jealous rage, inflicting a fatal head wound among more than 50 injuries during a brutal and sustained onslaught in the early hours of April 15 last year.
Neighbours heard screams coming from the address, where Clifford had been living, at around 3am that morning.
But he did not call the emergency services until more than an hour later, at 4:19am, claiming she had simply fallen down the stairs.
Ms Hill was found cold and unresponsive by paramedics before Clifford was arrested after they spotted him trying to wash some of his clothes while they battled to save her life.
He told jurors he laughed off the picture of the penis because it was so small.
But it emerged during the trial that Clifford has a string of previous convictions for attacking girlfriends.
In a moving victim impact statement, Ms Hill’s sister Melissa described how she was haunted by her death after warning that ‘if she did not leave him he was going to kill her’.
‘I told her that I believed he was not right for her and that he would hurt her in the future,’ she said.
‘What really haunts me was that I told her that if she did not leave him he was going to kill her.
‘It has destroyed a part of us. It is a pain that will never go away.
‘Natasha always believed that she could change him.’
Clifford was convicted of murder last week.
He refused to return to court today (mon) when Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC jailed him for life with a minimum term of 18 years.
‘Scott Clifford, it must be said, is a man with a volatile and violent temper,’ he said.
‘He was possessive, jealous and isolating and prone to outbursts of serious violence, especially when he had been drinking.
‘She must have suffered before death, either because of the prolonged nature of the beating or because she would have suffered a short lucidity in what was defined as extreme pain after her skull was fractured.
‘I don’t find that he had any intention to kill her but he did have an intention to cause her very serious injury which led to her death.’
The couple met in late 2016 and Clifford had been living in Thamesmead after his grandfather was moved to a care home in October the following year.
‘It was a tempestuous, on-and-off relationship, breaking up and then getting back together again,’ prosecutor Tom Little QC told jurors.
‘She kept coming back to him, despite in fact, previously having been the victim of violence at his own hands, or more accurately to say his fists.’
Mr Little told the court about two previous incidents where Clifford had attacked the teenager.
A witness to one of them described him ‘treating her like a rag doll’ in an assault compared to ‘something out of American wrestling.’
The court heard the pair had been shopping at Tesco at around midday on April 14 last year.
When they returned to the two-storey property they spent the afternoon drinking and taking pictures together.
Phone evidence later revealed Ms Hill had stopped using her mobile at some point that afternoon, something jurors heard was unusually long and inactive period.
The court was told paramedics arrived less than 10 minutes after Clifford dialled 999 the following morning but they were unable to save her.
Mr Little said: ‘Natasha Hill was found upstairs in the bedroom and was found on the floor besides the bed. She had swollen and bruised eyes, she had blood on her face, in her hair and in her mouth.’
Her smashed phone was also discovered under the mattress of Clifford’s grandfather’s old bed in the living room.
Detectives found the explicit image that had been sent to her by another man.
‘It is a pretty significant coincidence in this volatile kind of relationship that afternoon, and not long before the mobile phone stops being used by Natasha Hill, that the picture is sent,’ Mr Little said.
‘This is evidence that is of potential importance in this case.
‘Is there a link between the damage to the phone, the contents of the phone – that photograph, its unusual non-use that afternoon and the death of Natasha Hill?’
David Etherington QC, defending, said Clifford suffered from mental and physical health issues and he claimed to suffer from a split personality named ‘Ronnie’ who burst out of him when he was confronted by lying.
Clifford, of Sewell Road, Thamesmead, southeast London, was convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years.
