A “jealous” ex who stabbed her former lover in the heart on Christmas Day after seeing his new Tinder profile has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years. Kirsty Carless, 33, plunged a knife into father-of-six Louis Price’s chest on 25th December 2024 “motivated by anger, jealousy and fuelled by cocaine and alcohol” after a friend sent her a picture of his new dating profile.
Stafford Crown Court heard she had shown “no remorse” for killing the 31 year-old and instead concocted a false story that she could not ‘remember what had happened’. But on Thursday judge Mr Justice Choudhury caged Carless, of Cannock, Staffordshire, for life saying she had “destroyed the life of a young man and his family” during the attack at his parents’ home in Norton Canes.
Sentencing her in front of a packed public gallery, Mr Justice Choudhury said: “Less than two minutes is all it took for you to take a life and ruin many others, including your own.”
He added that Mr Price had only been inside the house for around six seconds, which meant Carless must have stabbed him “on sight”.
The judge said: “The intention to kill was plain. You stabbed him in the chest, a highly vulnerable part of the body.
“Having stabbed him, you didn’t stop there, you callously chased him around the garden brandishing a knife. You then fled, leaving him to die.
“You have showed no remorse for what you did, instead claiming falsely that you didn’t remember.”
The judge paid tribute to the “dignity” of Mr Price’s family, who all wore “Justice for Louis” T-shirts as they watched the sentencing.
Carless was convicted on Wednesday this week after a jury of seven men and five women unanimously found her guilty of murder and possession of an offensive weapon.
They also convicted her, by a majority verdict, of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in connection with an incident in November 2024 for which she was on police bail.
The trial was told Carless had been at the pub drinking with a male friend on Christmas Eve before they had sex three times at his home.
She had been planning to stay the night when a female friend sent her a screenshot of Mr Price’s Tinder profile at around 1.30am on Christmas Day, which sent her into what Mr Justice Choudhury called “a jealous rage”.
Carless then left the male friend’s home, took a taxi back to her house, where she picked up a kitchen knife and got another taxi to Mr Price’s parents’ address.
The jury were told she expected to find him with a woman but he was instead innocently in a caravan in the back garden with friends.
CCTV showed her running up the front path into the house and then “stalking” him around the garden before he was later found with a single stab wound to the chest on the conservatory floor.
Carless had called Mr Price 45 times between 2.15am and 2.44am while she waited for the taxi to take her to the address where he had been staying since their relationship ended.
Prosecutor Jona Hankin KC said she only interrupted up the “barrage” of calls to impatiently phone the cab company to check where her taxi was.
After arriving at the address, Carless asked the taxi driver to wait outside while she went into the property to stab Mr Price at around 3am.
Less than two minutes after arriving at the scene, Carless was “anxious and sweating” as she got back into the taxi and demanded the driver take her to her parents’ home, where she admitted her actions and her stepfather called 999.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Price’s mother Eleanor said her son had been “murdered by the woman he loved” and described him as a “funny, beautiful man”.
She said: “On Christmas Day 2024, our family’s lives changed forever, our world would never be the same. Our hearts ache just waiting every day to wake up from a nightmare. But we never will because this is our reality.
“A reality where Louis was murdered by the woman who he loved. The trauma that Kirsty has caused our family will never leave us, now knowing the details of what has happened and everything we have had to go through because of what Kirsty has done will haunt us for the rest of our lives.
“Walking into our family home where we know Louis passed away is a constant and unforgiving reminder.
“Louis leaves behind his children, who he will never get to see grow up. They will never get to have their dad see them get married or go through life.
“Louis was the beating heart of this family. He was funny, vibrant and kind hearted, and with losing him all of our hearts have a little piece missing.
“No sentence will ever be long enough for what Kirsty has done, nothing can bring back our Louis, but having justice against Kirsty is a small step towards ensuring his memory lives on and she pays for what she has done.”
Mr Price’s father Graham described him as “my son, my fishing buddy, my best friend” and said his life had been taken by an “act of evil”.
He said: “Louis lost his life, she took it from him. We will never forget Louis or forgive what has happened to him.”
DI Lisa Holland, from Staffordshire Police’s major investigations department, said: “Louis was tragically taken from his family and friends by a manipulative and jealous woman.
“His family have been incredibly brave throughout this whole process and have endured horrific pain, which is going to stay with them forever.
“I’m pleased that Carless is going to serve justice for what she did to Louis, his family and everyone who knew him.”
As Carless had been on police bail for assaulting Mr Price at the time of the fatal stabbing, Staffordshire Police made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, who decided not to investigate and the case was passed back to the force’s professional standards department.
Staffordshire Police added: “A number of positive actions were taken to mitigate the risks identified, which included arresting Kirsty Carless, imposing bail conditions to prevent her from having further contact with Louis Price, them living at separate addresses, and the submission of a public protection notice for consideration at a multi-agency risk assessment conference.
“No misconduct or learning was identified and officers updated Louis’s father and explained the decision.”