A man has been sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison for the brutal murder of Stacey Warnock in Airdrie.

John McLaughlan pleaded guilty to attacking his partner, 53, with a knife in the week before Christmas 2022, inflicting upon her more than 50 injuries.

Her body lay in the bath for several days, only being discovered when colleagues of the construction worker visited his house.

McLaughlan had told a workmate "Stacey is gone. She cannot handle it. She cannot move".

When two workmates turned up at his house on December 20 he said: "I need a lawyer. She is dead. She has been dead since Saturday."

When taken to the police station for questioning he said: "I killed my soulmate. I have not hidden any evidence. The clothes it happened in are lying in the bedroom. I have nothing to hide."

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John Scullion KC, defending, said McLaughlan had "no recollection of the fatal attack".

Sentencing, Lord Docherty said: "John Paul McLaughlan you have pled guilty to the murder of your partner Stacey Warnock. You used a knife to inflict multiple injuries to her face, neck and body. Several of the stab injuries are likely to have required the use of severe force. The fatal stab injury to Ms Warnock’s neck transected her left vertebral artery, damaged her right vertebral artery, and partially bisected her brain stem. It caused a basal subarachnoid haemorrhage. Death would have been almost immediate after that injury.

"The sentence for murder is life imprisonment and that is the sentence which I impose. That sentence will run from 20 December 2022.

"I also have to impose a punishment part. That is the period which you will require to serve before you become eligible to seek parole. I have regard to all that has been said on your behalf. I take account of the fact that you have pled guilty at the stage which you have.

"You have a previous conviction for an assault to injury in 1990 for which you were sentenced to 9 months’ detention. I do not attach much weight to that given the age of that conviction. Your record since then discloses only a contravention of section 47(1) of the Criminal Law Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1995 and a breach of the peace in 2006, both of which were disposed of at summary level by the imposition of fines.

"However, ultimately there is no escaping that this was a brutal, merciless and sustained attack with a knife on your partner. The punishment part requires to reflect that.

"Had you not pled guilty at the stage which you did the punishment part would have been 19 years, 1 year of which would have been attributable to the partner abuse aggravation. In view of your guilty plea the punishment part which I impose is 17 years.

"I stress that that does not mean that you will be released after 17 years. It will be for the Parole Board to determine whether you are to be released, and if so, when.” 

Detective Inspector Campbell Jackson said: “This was a horrendous and brutal attack involving a high level of violence. John McLaughlan took Stacey’s life and will now face the consequences.

“While this conviction cannot change what has happened I hope it will give Stacey’s family and friends some closure.

“Violence like this has no place in our society and Police Scotland will continue to work to bring those responsible for this kind of crime to justice.”