Murderer of Warwick graduate jailed for 27 years

A man who brutally attacked and murdered a former Warwick University student on her way home from work was jailed for life last week.

David Simmonds, 21, from Heanor, attacked Mrs Jia Ashton, 25, on her walk home from work in Derbyshire, in March this year. She was working as a business analyst at Thornton’s headquarters in Somercotes.

Simmond’s attack was so violent that it ruptured her heart, and also led the pathologist to comment that such traumatic injuries are only normally seen in car accidents or falls from great heights.

Her body was found in the neighbouring Sleetmoor Woods three days later, on 13 March, hidden beneath logs and branches.

Simmonds, who had changed his plea to guilty after initially denying the murder, was sentenced by Nottingham Crown Court to serve a minimum of 27 years and 213 days.

He was linked to the murder after a couple walking their dog in Sleetmoor Woods on the day of Mrs Ashton’s disappearance saw a man “of possibly homeless appearance” in the woods, which prompted police officers to take fingerprints and DNA samples from registered homeless people in the area.

A letter from Mrs Ashton’s mother, which was read out in court, stated that she could not “understand why David Simmonds did this and because I cannot understand – I cannot forgive.”

Simmonds also apologised to his parents for “ruining” their lives, claiming that he “never meant to do it” and “regretted it since the second it happened.” He also added that he was now “going to pay” for his actions.

As of yet, Simmonds has refused to provide any motivation for the murder, although police have confirmed there was no sexual element.

Mrs Ashton was a Chinese-born Economics graduate who had formerly lived in Leamington Spa.