A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years for stabbing his estranged wife to death in Devon after she had made repeated allegations to police that he had been stalking and harassing her.
Paul Butler, 53, stabbed Claire Chick 23 times outside her apartment block in Plymouth on 23 January.
Plymouth crown court heard Chick had made six statements to police about Butler’s behaviour and had been frustrated they did not do enough to help her.
The 48-year-old nurse and university lecturer emailed her solicitor saying she was “upset with the police for not doing all they could”.
At a previous hearing, Butler, from Plymouth, pleaded guilty to murder and possession of a bladed article.
Chick told friends her life was a “living hell” at the hands of Butler after their marriage broke down after only a few months in 2024.
She wanted a divorce and felt trapped by Butler, who accused her of sleeping with other men, the court heard. She was frightened by his unpredictable behaviour and moved to a flat, but he followed the removals van and admitted fitting a tracker to a car. He also repeatedly sent messages to her in which he would threaten to kill himself.
Butler, a former doorman, was arrested several times for stalking and harassment but he broke bail conditions ordering him to leave her alone and was still on bail when he stabbed her, the court heard.
Chick signed her final statement to police the day before her death and the prosecutor, Joanna Martin KC, said: “She believed he would murder her.”
Butler had previous convictions for violence and sexual offences against girls and women from 1986-88 when he was a teenager.
Martin told the court that by January this year Butler had “formulated a plan” as he wore a camouflage jacket, cap and rucksack and bought three kitchen knives from a supermarket.
The attack was caught in harrowing CCTV and dashcam footage shown to the court during a 22-minute compilation of events. Chick shouted “get off me” but suffered 23 stab wounds in a short space of time and probably died at the scene, Martin said.
Martin said Butler suspected Chick had moved on with a new relationship with a man called Paul Maxwell, who came across the fatal attack. Butler chased Maxwell off before fleeing himself and dumping the knife and then his cap and jacket in a bin.
Chick worked as a lecturer in adult nursing at the University of Plymouth. A statement from the university earlier in the year described her as a nurse, lecturer and personal tutor, and said she was the associate head of school for international in the university’s school of nursing and midwifery. She had been involved in developing nursing programmes in Europe, Africa and Asia.
After Chick’s death, Devon and Cornwall police made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct due to previous contact with the victim. “Our investigation into Claire Chick’s contact with Devon and Cornwall police prior to her murder in January is ongoing,” an IOPC spokesperson said.
“Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Ms Chick’s family and we are keeping them updated on the progress of our investigation.”