Life term for man who murdered flatmate after she refused sex
A man who murdered his flatmate after claiming she refused to have sex with him has been jailed for life.
Gary Stevenson, 27, stabbed 25-year-old Katy Rourke at the flat they shared in Govan, Glasgow, after they had been drinking on 29 December 2015.
He later gave himself up to police and admitted murdering Ms Rourke, who was originally from Broughty Ferry, Dundee.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Stevenson was told he must serve a minimum of 17 years before he can apply for parole.
'Significant sexual aspect'
Jailing him, judge Lady Rae told Stevenson: "You killed Miss Rourke because she rejected your sexual advances and because she refused to engage in sexual intercourse.
"You were simply, on this occasion, not prepared to take 'no' for an answer and you deliberately killed her.
"On the facts of this case there was indeed a very significant sexual aspect to this particular crime."
The court previously heard that Ms Rourke rented a room in the flat where hospital laboratory assistant Stevenson was the tenant.
When she failed to turn up for work, her manager was so concerned that she phoned Ms Rourke's mother who made an appeal on Facebook for her to get in touch.
Three of Ms Rourke's friends went to the flat in Minto Street and saw her car parked outside.
Advocate depute Bruce Erroch, prosecuting, said: "They went out into the back garden and noticed one of the rear windows of the flat was open and a light was on."
As the three friends waited they saw two uniformed officers on patrol and explained the situation to them.
After they forced entry to the property, Ms Rourke's body was found in her bedroom.
She had two slash wounds to her body and a smaller puncture wound to her lower back. A large kitchen knife was lying beside her.
Stevenson told police that he and Ms Rourke had been drinking and claimed they had sex.
He told officers that after he woke up he asked her to have sex with him again and she refused because she had work in the morning.
Stevenson then said he lost control and punched Ms Rourke repeatedly in the face, before stabbing her three times.
He told police: "She started fighting back so that's when I took a knife from the kitchen and used that to make sure she stopped moving, that's it.
"I've never been in trouble for violence. But when I did lose control, it just felt like there was nothing to stop me.
"There were no moral boundaries left in my life."