Kelli Bothwell murder Doncaster: Mother-of-two murdered by controlling boyfriend in 'dream' cottage

A mother who ‘radiated love’ was brutally murdered in her ‘dream’ cottage by her abusive boyfriend who blamed her for her own death as she fought to stay alive.

Paul Cousans, 52, stabbed Kelli Bothwell, 53, twice in the back after an altercation at their home on Main Street in the village of Sprotbrough, near Doncaster, in August 2023.

There was a gap of several minutes between the two blows – which penetrated her kidney, spleen and lung – and the entire incident was overheard by a police call handler after Kelli managed to dial 999.

The operator heard Cousans tell Kelli, who worked as a trainer for community carers, ‘you have destroyed my life’ and ‘you die, I die’ during the harrowing recording. Cousans, who stabbed himself through the chest but survived, was today jailed for life at Sheffield Crown Court. He had pleaded guilty to murder.

He has a previous conviction for assaulting his ex-wife and a long history of domestic violence and coercive behaviour towards both women, yet held down a well-paid job as a business development manager for insurance giant AXA.

The court heard that on August 5, the couple, who both drank heavily, had been for an evening at a wine bar in Sprotbrough, and though were initially in ‘good spirits’ when they returned, neighbours later heard screams and heavy thumps coming from the property. At 8pm, the 15-minute 999 call was made from Kelli Bothwell’s mobile phone.

Kelli initially reported that her arm had been injured, and details were taken before she screamed that she had been stabbed in the back, and still had the knife in her body. The operator then heard Cousans calling one of his two daughters by his ex-wife to tell her that he loved her and was going to end his life, and as Kelli was losing consciousness, he told the call handler: “I love her but she has screwed me over tonight.”

Kelli begged the operator for help, but Cousans himself offered no assistance and was heard to say: “Kelli, look me in the eye. I hope you realise what you caused tonight. I die, you die.”

Kelli then shouted that she had been stabbed a second time from behind and the call ended. Officers found her on the garden patio with Cousans straddling her holding an eight-inch kitchen knife. He told police: “We go together”.

Cousans’ wounds were treated but all the injuries he had were self-inflicted. Kelli could not be revived.

The court was told that Cousans’ violent history included strangling his ex-wife while she was pregnant and knocking her unconscious. After meeting Kelli in 2020, incidents began a year later and she confided in friends that he had assaulted her. She often had bruises visible at work and in July 2021 reported Cousans to police. The couple separated, but later reconciled and Kelli told officers that she would not support a prosecution, leading to the case being dropped.

Friends said that Cousans checked Kelli’s phone daily, locked her in the house, would not let her go to the shop alone and controlled what she could eat. She had deleted her social media accounts and left chat groups.

A powerful victim impact statement by her daughter Megan van Delft was read to the court. Megan said she and her sister Rhyanne, who between them have three children, had to clean up their mother’s blood from the ‘dream’ cottage she had moved into just months before her murder, which occurred only weeks after Megan had relocated to Doncaster to be closer to her.

"She was a beautiful soul who had time for everyone. She had been married three times and moved around the country for love. She craved the fairytale, but it led her into the arms of her killer. That fairytale involved her cottage on Main Street, but internally, there was very little of her personality on show – it was full of Paul’s possessions. The tenancy was in her name but the rent was high, so Paul had total control of her.”

The sisters extended their sympathies to Cousans’ two daughters for the impact the murder had had on them.

Cousans’ defence counsel confirmed that he was on suicide watch in prison, but had no diagnosed mental disorder. He said that the murder was caused by a ‘loss of control’ and was not pre-meditated.

Commendation was also given to police officer PC Jessica Whitton who had showed ‘composure and good training’ by directing resuscitation efforts at the scene when her colleagues were in shock.

Imposing a minimum prison term of 19 years, Recorder of Sheffield, Jeremy RIchardson KC, said: “This was a deliberate and brutal attack. It was not frenzied; it was targeted. Kelli lay dying before your eyes, yet you did not lift a finger to help her. You cruelly watched a woman die in front of you and stabbed her again. You remained calm and matter of fact, and that is a truly chilling feature of this case.

"Kelli had suffered an unrelenting cascade of emotional abuse and regular, repeated violence. She was emotionally overpowered by you and found it impossible to escape your vice-like grip. She was saturated with venom that came from you.

"You are a truly wicked individual and this was ingrained behaviour.”

Recorder Richardson then called PC Whitton to the witness box and told her that she would be commended to the chief constable of South Yorkshire Police for her ‘impressive piece of police work in very difficult circumstances.’