Poppy Devey Waterhouse, 24, suffered more than 100 injuries including 23 stab wounds to her head and neck after she was murdered with a kitchen knife in a 'frenzied' attack days before Christmas last year.
She was subjected to a 'long and brutal' death at the hands of her university sweetheart Joe Atkinson, who also had a masters degree in maths, at the flat they shared in Leeds.
Today, the 25-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years after pleading guilty to murdering Poppy in an attack 'fuelled by jealousy' - two months after the William Hill betting analyst broke off their three-year relationship.
In an emotional impact statement today, Poppy's mother Julie Devey revealed how she 'kept scraping my hands across the floorboards where she had been left screaming' after visiting the blood-soaked flat where she died.
Her tearful father Rupert Waterhouse also spoke of the 'great pain' of not being 'there for my daughter when she needed me most'.
'I could only kiss her cold forehead when it was too late and tell her I love her,' he said, adding how Poppy was murdered 'by the man that she loved and trusted'.
The 'eloquence and incredible testimonial' of each of Poppy's family members was praised by the defendant's family, as Atkinson's lawyer said of him: 'There were absolutely no signs from anybody about what might come'.
He added that it was a 'complete departure from everything that had defined this 25-year-old to date.'
Prosecutors explained how the pair had been together for three years by late 2018, but had broken up at the request of Miss Devey Waterhouse, an analyst for William Hill, in October.
The attack took place on December 114 after Atkinson arrived back from his work Christmas party, just two days before he was due to move out of the flat.
MailOnline
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