During a drug-fueled session at a pub, David Liptrot made a confession. As word spread about the bar, the mood soured.
The 55-year-old man’s confession was reported to his friend, a bookmaker, as “sickening”. When asked about the allegation, Liptrot said: “If there are big problems, you get rid of them, you get shut down.”
Liptrot sang Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline and snorted cocaine while his girlfriend Caroline Gore lay dead on the bathroom floor. Taking a break from her revelry, she told another punter that she had killed the 43-year-old man.
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After staff attempted to search for Mrs Gore, the police were notified. Police officers found Mrs Gore’s body on the bathroom floor of her flat.
Liptrot, of Shelley Close, Coppull, Lancashire, denied murdering his partner, who was described in court as ‘vulnerable’ and suffering from mental health problems, but jurors spent just 90 minutes convicting him after the trial.
Sentencing the savage to 20 years in prison at Manchester Crown Court today (August 16), the Honourable Judge Suzanne Goddard said: “Despite knowing that Caroline Gore had died at your hands, your behaviour was callous and the hollowness of your objections was proof that you truly loved her.”
The court heard Liptrot carried out a “brutal, sustained and clearly forceful attack” on Ms Gore on October 29, 2023, after arguing with her in pubs in nearby Atherton earlier in the day. Prosecutor Alaric Bassano previously told the court the pair had an “on-off, toxic relationship” with “excessive drinking on both sides”.
On October 29, Liptrot joined Ms Gore for drinks at the Wheatsheaf pub in Atherton at 3.50pm but soon became upset and started crying. Mr Bassano said there was “heat” between them at around 5pm, with Ms Gore becoming upset and trying to get away from him.
The court heard Liptrot became ‘agitated’ and ‘banged violently’ on the door of the women’s toilet as he tried to find her. Ms Gore headed towards the Dog and Partridge pub in Wigan while Liptrot went to his flat in Douglas House at around 8pm.
He continued to ‘wait’ until Miss Gore returned at 11.06pm. Seventeen minutes later, he left the property after fatally stabbing her.
The next day, Liptrot told a customer during a session at the pub: “I killed Caroline.” The court also heard Liptrot threw away both his and Miss Gore’s phones, meaning their messages could not be checked, and threw the knife he used to kill Miss Gore into the bushes behind the bus stop.
Police entered Ms Gore’s flat at 8.23pm on October 30 after concerns were raised by staff at the pub. She was found slumped on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet, with her keys lying next to her. Ms Gore suffered injuries to her neck, chest and abdomen – causing serious internal injuries.
At a hearing last month, Liptrot claimed Ms Gore had been violent towards him – but at today’s sentencing it emerged he had a number of previous convictions, including domestic violence against both his other partners and Ms Gore. The court heard Liptrot had appeared in court 48 times for 85 offences since 1979.
Mr Bassano explained that Liptrot has spent most of his life in and out of prison, having previously been convicted of domestic violence against previous partners in 2018 and 2021, and against Ms Gore in 2022 and 2023.
In October 2022, he was given a restraining order, which he breached twice before killing her. On October 24 – five days before Ms Gore was killed – he made an unsuccessful application to have the restraining order lifted.
Defending, Nigel Power said:[Liptrot] “He speaks warmly of the deceased and has done so at times during the trial.” But Liptrot, who had earlier waved to supporters in the crowd, wore a gray Under Armour T-shirt in the dock and showed no emotion as Judge Goddard handed him down a life sentence.
There were tears and emotional scenes in the public gallery when Liptrot was told he must serve 20 years before he is eligible for parole. Judge Goddard said: “Experience shows that women do not find it easy to leave a man they love, even if he is violent and abusive.
“It was you [Liptrot] “I should have stayed away from Caroline Gore – I should have avoided speaking to her while she was in prison and rekindled the relationship immediately after she left prison.” He added that Ms Gore was ‘in no position to defend herself’ in her bathroom after returning home from the pub.
Following the sentencing, Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: “This is a heartbreaking loss of life. No one should suffer at the hands of their partner and this is a very horrific and distressing case where Caroline lost her life in a violent domestic attack.
“Our thoughts are with Caroline’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time. I know the sentence handed down here today will not bring Caroline back home to her family, but I hope it provides some comfort to them in knowing what happened to Caroline and that Liptrot will be behind bars for a very long time.”
Paying tribute to Mrs Gore, her family said: “As a family we are heartbroken and saddened by the loss of Caroline. A much-loved mother, daughter and sister tragically taken from us too soon. The family would like to ask for privacy at this time and respect Caroline and her memory.”