A man has been jailed for life for stabbing his 19-year-old girlfriend to death in a railway station car park where the pair were sleeping rough.
Jason Flore, 26, attacked Stephanie Marie, the mother of his child, in the car park at Crawley station last August during a heated argument in an “explosion of violence”.
At Hove Crown Court this afternoon (Thursday 20 February) Flore was jailed for life in his absence, having refused to leave his prison cell.
Judge Jeremy Gold ordered him to serve a minimum term of 21 years, minus the six months that he has already spent in custody.
Patrick Dennis, prosecuting, said that Flore was too cowardly to come to court and read a statement from the victim’s mother Cathy Marie.
Mrs Marie said: “She was a happy child. She wanted to become a hairdresser and she was always practising with my hair. Life was very good when we were living in Mauritius. We were a happy family.”
Miss Marie was 13 when she moved to Crawley. Mrs Marie said: “Stephanie was extremely happy and excited by the fact that we were coming to live in England.”
At 14, Miss Marie met Flore. Her mother said: “She was a good child and she was a happy child. But after meeting Jason, Stephanie changed.
“After Stephanie met Jason, the family life at home became difficult. Stephanie was still going to school and she loved music and sports, for example, basketball, football and cricket, and she loved playing the guitar and she was still contemplating a career in hairdressing.
“After Stephanie finished school, she carried on studying in the same school where she was following courses on hairdressing and beauty but she left after three months, I think because she fell pregnant.
“While pregnant, Stephanie and Jason were staying with us. There was a fight between Jason and Stephanie and the owner of the house asked them to leave. They went to stay at Jason’s mum’s. I do not know when they started sleeping rough.
“I have lost my daughter. My life has completely changed. She was only 19 and she had all her life ahead of her.
“I cry for Stephanie every day. I have nightmares about Stephanie every day. I think of her all the time. What I want now is for justice to be done for Stephanie.”
Judge Jeremy Gold said: “She met you when she was just a 14-year-old child and you would have been 21 and she clearly fell under your influence.”
She became pregnant by Flore – and, the judge said: “There appears to have been a steady deterioration in your relationship over time although she remained obsessed with you.
“The background to this offence is clearly one of controlling behaviour by an older man of a vulnerable teenager.
“Your relationship, in more recent times, included casual violence between the two of you and if she sought to assert herself in any way you would respond with violence.
“By the time of her murder, you had successfully drawn her away from her immediate family and you were living together in a tent on an uncovered and disused car park adjacent to Crawley railway station.
“On the day before Stephanie’s murder you were both at a barbecue in that car park. A substantial amount of alcohol was clearly consumed through the day and the following night by both of you.
“At around 7am on Sunday 18 August last year, a passing commuter saw a confrontation between you and Stephanie in the car park.
“Stephanie was holding a knife and you were both behaving aggressively towards each other. Within a few moments you stabbed her in the chest with that knife, penetrating her heart and aorta – an injury which inevitably caused her death.
“I have no doubt that you had formed the intention to kill her in that explosion of violence fuelled by anger and alcohol.
“You left the scene immediately and embarked on a course of conduct designed to avoid responsibility for what you had done.
“You initially claimed that she had stabbed herself and, when it became apparent that such a defence was doomed to fail, you tried to shift blame on to the shoulders of others, despite overwhelming evidence of your own guilt.
“Following your conviction by the jury yesterday, you have refused to attend court for today’s sentence hearing which is a further indication of your total lack of respect for the mother of your child – and her grieving mother and friends.
“The sentence for an offence of murder is one of life imprisonment … The minimum term before you will be considered for parole would have been one of 21 years.”
The judge added that the six months already spent in custody on remand would be taken off the 21-year term to be served before Flore could be considered for release from prison on licence.
Flore denied murdering Stephanie Marie, claiming that he had not even been at the scene. But yesterday a jury today found him guilty after three hours and 40 minutes of deliberation at the end of a trial lasting two and a half weeks at Hove Crown Court.
The court was told that, on Sunday 18 August 2024, at around 7.05am, police were called after Flore was seen arguing with Miss Marie in the station car park by a witness on the bridge.
Flore was described as being very aggressive and waving his hands at Miss Marie, who was undressed from the waist down, visibly upset and distressed and holding a knife.
Meanwhile, at 7.18am, a separate 999 call was made calling for an ambulance, reporting a woman – Miss Marie – had been stabbed.
The caller said that she was not breathing but they needed to leave for their train. The number was later confirmed to belong to Flore.
He was then seen by the witness walking away from the station car park, accompanied by his dog, and wearing a red jacket. She took pictures of him as he did so.
Flore then attempted to get on a bus but was refused travel – he had at this point taken off his jacket but was still wearing a pair of joggers with blood on the knee. Flore continued to make his way towards the town centre.
Paramedics and officers went to the station where Miss Marie was found with a stab wound to the chest.
While paramedics worked to try to save her, a search that included armed response officers continued to look for Flore.
He was found and stopped near Haslett Avenue East, heading towards Three Bridges railway station at 8am, at which point he told officers: “She did it to herself.”
He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder by armed officers from Sussex Police.
Despite the best efforts of paramedics, Miss Marie was pronounced dead at the scene at 8.16am and Flore was further arrested for murder just moments later.
The senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Sam Blackburn, from the British Transport Police (BTP), said: “Stephanie was a young woman with a whole life ahead of her to enjoy but had it stolen away by a controlling and coercive partner.
“She was a much-loved daughter, sister and mother who enjoyed sports, music – especially playing guitar – and had ambitions to be a hairdresser.
“This outcome is the result of countless hours of investigation and I thank everyone who has contributed to ensuring Stephanie’s killer has been held accountable for what he did today. It is important that we remember her name today instead of his.
“While the verdict will never replace the tragic loss felt by those who loved Stephanie, it has ensured that justice has been served. I hope this outcome helps them find some peace after such a devastating loss.”
