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Victims Ukleigha Batten-Froggatt, 6
Her mother Nicole Batten
Killer Mark Nicholas |
TRIBUTES
TO ‘LOVELY’ UKLEIGHA
Killer of mother and daughter jailed
for 30 years
FRIENDS and relatives of a six-year-old girl who was murdered
alongside her mother in a Somers Town flat have told how they
feel numb after coming face-to-face with their killer in court.
Mark Nicholas, 30, was told he must serve 30 years of a double
life sentence at the Old Bailey on Tuesday after confessing
to killing Nicole Batten and little Ukleigha Batten-Froggatt.
The primary school pupil – described as a “little
angel” by teachers and looking sparkly-eyed in a picture
released by detectives shortly after her tragic death –
charmed adult friends with her infectious personality and imagination,
often drawing rainbows on sketchpads for pals and making home
made gifts. One close friend said this week that she still treasured
a badge that Ukleigha had made for her.
But, for all the fun times, the youngster’s name was listed
on a social services “at risk” register due to concerns
over her welfare at home.
An independent review cleared all social workers of any mistakes
but criticised social services for not tackling Ms Batten’s
heavy drinking and encouraging her to seek help. Staff at Winton
Primary School in Killick Street, King’s Cross, were praised
for being alert to possible problems, but the panel ruled there
was poor communication between health visitors, doctors, social
workers and the council’s housing department.
It is only since the murders that Camden’s social services
has scored improved marks from government inspectors.
Three years ago, the department was in a state of crisis after
its director Jane Held mysteriously left her post. Her departure
was followed by the resignation of Labour councillor Penny Abraham
as the elected member at the head of the department on the grounds
that she was unhappy about Ms Held’s sudden exit.
At the time, some council bosses felt the department was the
weak link at the Town Hall and risked losing Camden its much-trumpeted
‘excellent’ overall status in national performance
chants.
Nicholas showed little emotion as he was sent to the cells at
the Old Bailey.
He stabbed Ms Batten, 33, his former lover, in the chest before
suffocating Ukleigha, probably with a cushion, at a flat in
Levita House in Ossulston Street in February last year.
At the time of the murders, he had only been out of jail for
a week following a four-month term in prison for driving while
disqualified.
After the killings, Nicholas snatched money from Ms Batten’s
bank account to buy crack cocaine and heroin. He also used the
stolen cash to buy second hand car in which he planned to drive
away to Wales in.
Nicholas was arrested after a two-week manhunt when a friend
he was staying with in east London answered a police television
appeal and turned him in. Detectives had found his victims’
bodies in the flat after Ukleigha failed to turn up to school
for a week. Outside court, Ms Batten’s sister Andrea Harrison
said: “Nicole was a kind, caring person. You could see
that Ukleigha was the same. It is a shame that she wasn’t
allowed to grow up. She was a lovely girl.”
Brother Jason Batten simply said: “There are too many children
being killed in this country. It’s getting worse.”
Dawn Harrison, Ms Batten’s mother, added: “While they
may be gone, they will never be forgotten. We feel lucky that
for them to have been part of our lives.”
Commenting on Nicholas’s sentence, she said: “I would
have liked it to be more but at least we know that he won’t
be coming out for 30 years. I hope he finds a way to think about
what he has done.”
Family friend Frankie Biney, who lives in Somers Town, said:
“I don’t know how to feel now. It has gone on so long.
I just feel numb. It was hard to sit in court and listen to
the evidence.”
Another pal Leigh Austin said: “There was never any trouble
with Ukleigha. She was a lovely girl. There is no excuse to
kill her. Everybody has had their heart broken at some time
– but its no excuse to kill a child.”
Judge David Paget QC described Ukleigha as “wholly innocent”.
She had simply witnessed the horror of Nicholas murdering her
mother and the killer decided she therefore had to die, he added.
Judge Paget told the court Nicholas might end up in Broadmoor
for psychological tests.
Leading psychiatrist Dr Nigel Eastman ruled that the killer
had a severe personality disorder and was a public danger –
especially to women.
When he was arrested, Nicholas made up a story for police that
Ms Batten had attacked him with a crowbar and that he had used
a knife to defend himself, the court heard. He also claimed
that Ukleigha had only died because he had put his hand over
her mouth to stop her crying.
Expert pathologists ruled out both explanations and Nicholas
later accepted full responsibility.
He wrote a letter to a friend which was never sent and later
found by police revealing that he had become besotted with Ms
Batten. It included the line: “I’m a murderer in love.”
Prosecutor Julian Goose QC said that Ms Batten’s affections
for him had cooled during his most recent jail stretch. He wrote
to her many times from prison but the correspondence in return
dried-up.
Mr Goose told the court: “He felt that if he could not
have Nicole and Ukleigha no-one else would.”
The killer, originally from Haverford West in Wales, has a series
of past convictions and had been previously jailed for wounding
and robbery.
Detective Inspector Tariq Sarwar said: “Mark Nicholas is
a cold and controlling individual with a total disrespect for
human life. He could not accept that his relationship with Nicole
was at an end and selfishly sacrificed the lives of two people
who had done him no wrong.” |
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