Chilling moment sixth former, 18, catches a bus to go to stab his ex-girlfriend Ellie Gould, 17, before putting the knife into her hand to make it look like she had killed herself while he went back to school as he is locked up for life
- Thomas Griffiths, 17, admitted murdering Ellie Gould, 17, after she dumped him
- He stabbed her to death, left her in a pool of blood, and then returned to school
- Put knife in hand to make it seem like she killed herself, for her father to find her
- Chilling CCTV released today showed him catching bus on the way to the murder
- Griffiths was today ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years and six months
This is the chilling moment a sixth form pupil caught a bus to go and stab his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend Ellie Gould to death – as he was today locked up for life for her murder.
Thomas Griffiths, now 18, left the knife in Ellie’s hand to make it look like she had killed herself, and then abandoned her in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor while he went back to school.
The teenager sought support from a matron at Hardenhuish School in Chippenham as well as sending messages to Ellie’s friends to say he could not get hold of her. She was found dead by her father when he returned home four hours after the attack.
The pair had been going out for several months when Ellie decided to call off the relationship on May 2. A day later Griffiths went to her home and brutally attacked her.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Garnham said: ‘You put your hands around Ellie’s neck and tried to throttle her. She tried desperately to fight back, scratching at your neck in the process. You did not have the sense, or the decency, to stop. Instead, you picked up a kitchen knife.
‘You then carried out the most appalling attack on this defenceless girl, repeatedly stabbing her to the face and neck. The pain and terror she must have suffered in her last moments, as your frenzied knife attack continued, is beyond imagining.’
He was told to serve a minimum term of 12 years and six months.
Thomas Griffiths was seen on CCTV catching a bus home to murder his former girlfriend Ellie Gould at her home in Calne, Wiltshire on May 3
Griffiths (seen waiting at the bus stop) stabbed Ellie to death after she decided to break up with him
Aspiring showjumper and A level student Ellie Gould, who was found dead at her home
Ellie’s family and friends packed the public galleries of court room one, with a video link set up in court room four for others to watch the proceedings.
Opening the case for the first time, Richard Smith QC said Ellie and Griffiths, of Derry Hill, Wiltshire had been in a relationship since January 2019.
‘However, in a message sent to friends on social media at 6pm on May 2, Ellie announced that she had split from this defendant and that he had not taken the separation well,’ Mr Smith said.
‘Earlier that same day, Ellie had told her friends that she felt suffocated by Griffith’s attentions.’
Mr Smith said Griffiths had been driven to school on the morning of May 3 by his mother but he had ‘no intention’ of going.
He took a bus home before driving to Ellie’s family home, arriving there at 10.58am and leaving at 11.51am.
Griffiths, 17, admitted murdering Ellie Gould, also 17, at her home in Calne, Wiltshire
‘Griffiths became angry, perhaps by Ellie’s continued rejection of him and he attacked her,’ Mr Smith said.
‘A post-mortem examination indicated that Ellie was first incapacitated by pressure having been applied to her neck.
‘Thereafter, multiple knife wounds were inflicted. There are at least 13 wounds inflicted, with the knife focused mainly around the area of the left neck.
‘The knife that was used to kill Ellie was one that was taken from the family kitchen.’
Mr Smith said Griffiths had attempted to clean up the murder scene with cloths he later hid in a wood near his home.
Blood-staining on an apron suggests Griffiths wiped the knife before placing it back in Ellie’s neck.
‘The defendant must have placed his victim’s own hand on the handle of the knife,’ Mr Smith said.
‘No doubt to make it look as though she, Ellie, had inflicted the wounds on herself.’
At 11.45am, a text was sent from Ellie’s phone telling a friend that she was not going to school that day.
After the murder, Griffiths drove home and told a neighbour he had self-harmed, with deep scratches to his neck.
‘In truth, the injuries to the defendant’s neck and to his hand were nothing to do with self-infliction but very much more likely the product of his young victim having fought for her life as she was attacked,’ Mr Smith said.
Snapchat messages Griffiths sent to a group after he killed Ellie, which were released today by Wiltshire Police
Another set of messages Griffiths sent to a friend saying he was feeling ‘anxious and nervous about everything’ following the breakup
Police today released photographs of the crime scene, including this bag of blood-stained items dumped by Griffiths
A pair of shoes that were worn by Griffiths during the murder on May 3, which he was jailed for today
Griffiths later asked his neighbour to drive him to school, where he spoke to the matron and sent messages to Ellie’s phone.
He was collected from school from his mother, who later took him to a friend’s house in Chippenham.
At 3pm, Ellie’s father Matthew Gould returned home to find his daughter lying ‘face down in a pool of blood, with the knife in her neck,’ Mr Smith said.
In a victim personal statement, Mr Gould said: ‘The image of Ellie lying there on the floor has haunted me ever since that afternoon.
‘It fills my thoughts when trying to sleep and hijacks my mind when trying to go about my day.’
Griffiths was arrested outside his friend’s home at 6pm and ‘lied repeatedly’ to police, Mr Smith told the court.
Ellie is pictured riding a horse on her beach. Her family said she had a ‘huge love of animals’
A map shows the killer lived just 2.6 miles away from his victim, who he stabbed to death at her home
‘I’m feeling so stressed’: Griffiths’ self-pitying social media messages after murdering Ellie
Thomas Griffiths posted a selfie to a Snapchat group after murdering Ellie Gould – telling her friends he was feeling ‘so stressed’.
The teenager, then aged 17, referred to scratches on his neck and claimed he had been self-harming due to illnesses in his family and the break-up with Ellie.
He posted: ‘I think everyone’s noticed that I’ve been really down lately and I need to tell you why. Me and Ellie are going to go on a break and see how things go after exams.
‘As well as this, my Dad has cancer and my Nan has been in hospital having heart problems. I’ve been so stressed lately and I don’t know how to cope with it.
‘I’ve been scratching myself around my neck area and as this group has kind of become my best friends I don’t know who else to talk to.’
The boy said he was going to see a teacher at his school, Hardenhuish School, to ‘explain everything that has been happening’.
In a message to one of Ellie’s friends, Griffiths wrote: ‘I know me and Ellie are going on a break but I’ve been so anxious and nervous lately and I don’t know who else to talk to.
‘I’ve also not told anyone this but I’ve been kind of hurting myself by scratching my neck quite hard.’
Mr Smith also summarised a victim personal statement from Carole Gould.
‘She had welcomed the defendant into their house, sat him around the dinner table, celebrated a 17th birthday with him and less than three months later saw that he had murdered their daughter,’ he said.
Sasha Wass QC, representing Griffiths, said he was an exceptional student who had been made a prefect shortly before the murder.
He swam at county and international level, and played rugby at county level for Chippenham Rugby Club, she said.
Ms Wass read a letter written to the court by Griffiths, in which he apologised for his actions.
He wrote: ‘I have truly let myself down and I hope one day I will be able to explain to myself and others why this happened.’
Griffiths lived just over two and a half miles away from his victim, in a quiet rural street (pictured) lined with new-build homes that are worth as much as £418,000
Lisa Percy, headteacher of Hardenhuish School, where Ellie studied, said: ‘The whole community at Hardenhuish was completely devastated by the death of Ellie back in May.
‘Ellie was an extremely popular student in our lower sixth form, who was preparing for her A-Levels the following year.
‘She was popular, friendly and very talented, and understandably her death has hugely impacted on our school.
‘Her close knit group of friends have shown strength beyond their young years in the months that have followed Ellie’s death, and have supported one another extraordinarily well.
‘We continue to support our students with the help of partner agencies who have been invaluable to our school during such an unprecedented time. Our thoughts continue to remain with Ellie’s family at this time.’
Ellie’s father Matthew and mother, Carole, 48, owned a kitchen fitting business. She is also survived by her 19-year-old brother Ben.
Thomas Griffiths has pleaded guilty to the murder, which took place in Calne, Wiltshire on May 3 (scene pictured)
In a statement released after the horrific murder in May, her family described her as an animal lover who enjoyed summer holidays to Devon and attending school.
They said: ‘We would like Ellie to be remembered as a kind, caring young lady with a wonderful fun personality.
‘From a young age, Ellie had a huge love for animals.
‘Ellie loved the Sixth Form at school where she was studying for A levels.
‘She had built up a close group of friends who would often meet up at weekends and do activities such as the Escape Rooms.
‘She would often ask if the group could meet at our house – ‘It’s just a gathering mum, not a party,’ she’d say.
‘We talked about visits to university open days and apprenticeships within the police force – she wondered if she could get into the mounted police with her riding skills.
‘Whilst she was excited about the next step in her life she also said, ‘But I don’t want the sixth form to end as I love it so much’.
‘Ellie had a lovely relationship with her older brother growing up, they rarely argued as she was fun loving and a joy to be around.
Ellie Gould’s family’s statement in full
A statement from the Gould family reads: ‘We would like Ellie to be remembered as a kind, caring young lady with a wonderful fun personality.
‘From a young age, Ellie had a huge love for animals Every Spring we would visit Lackham during the lambing season, and during the summer holidays we made many visits to animal farms to hold chicks, rabbits and feed baby animals.
‘On her first day at primary school she put holes in her brand new shoes as she spent every playtime playing with her friends crawling around on her hands and knees being a cat.
‘Ellie also loved our summer trips to Devon to stay at our aunt and uncle’s house – she loved their puppy Elsa and whilst the other young cousins were scared of the lively puppy jumping up, Ellie wasn’t and had a wonderful way with animals, calming the puppy and making it do whatever she wanted.
‘Every year from a young age, a pony always featured on her Christmas or Birthday wish lists.
‘As her parents, we tried to get away with buying a hobby horse to run around the garden on. The pleas continued so we adopted an Exmoor Pony, however due to the distance, we could only visit twice a year.
‘Finally we decided as we lived in beautiful rural Wiltshire, we’d buy her a pony – Missy.
‘Missy was white with a long flowing mane and tail, she looked like a unicorn when she was white, although more often than not, she looked brown as she loved rolling in mud.
‘Ellie spent hours brushing her and plaiting her mane and tail. She loved showing her off at local shows in ‘prettiest pony classes’ and was so proud one year to come first at Foxham show in the ‘best family pony class’.
‘Ellie’s natural riding ability improved immensely and in no time she was ready to move onto her next pony – Blackjack.
‘Again, winters and summers she competed in local shows and cross country events. It was nail biting to watch as she would gallop past and fly over enormous cross country jumps.
‘She also spent the summer months often just herself and her beloved Blackjack hacking over Wiltshire’s beautiful countryside.
‘Ellie loved the Sixth Form at school where she was studying for A levels.
‘She had built up a close group of friends who would often meet up at weekends and do activities such as the Escape Rooms. She would often ask if the group could meet at our house – ‘It’s just a gathering mum, not a party,’ she’d say.
‘We talked about visits to university open days and apprenticeships within the police force – she wondered if she could get into the mounted police with her riding skills.
‘Whilst she was excited about the next step in her life she also said, ‘But I don’t want the sixth form to end as I love it so much’.
‘Ellie had a lovely relationship with her older brother growing up, they rarely argued as she was fun loving and a joy to be around.
‘We would like Ellie to be remembered as a kind, caring young lady with a wonderful fun personality.
‘Ellie’s favourite charity was Riding for the Disabled who run activities for disabled children and adults and we ask that any donations in Ellie’s memory are made to this charity so that they can continue with their fantastic work.
‘This is what Ellie would have wanted.
‘Finally, we’d like to thank the community in Calne and Hardenhuish School for their support and comforting words, as well as the police who have provided us with support over the past few weeks.’
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