Killer who stabbed his girlfriend and ate a kebab while she bled to death is moved to an open prison

• Marcel Allan plunged knife into back of mother-of-three Lisa Leckenby in 2009 
• He then tucked into his takeaway at their home in Blackhall, County Durham 

A brutal killer who stabbed his partner and then ate a kebab while she bled to death has been moved to an open jail after only 13 years.

Marcel Allan, then 42, plunged a knife into the back of mother-of-three Lisa Leckenby then sat back and tucked into his takeaway.

The body of Lisa, 28, was found at the home they shared at Blackhall, near Peterlee, County Durham, on the 9th August 2009.

Details of Allan’s callous attitude towards Lisa during the case at Newcastle Crown Court even shocked the judge.

Jailing him in November 2009, Judge Esmond Faulks said: ‘This was a horrible and unforgivable killing.

Marcel Allan, then 42, plunged a knife into the back of  Lisa Leckenby then sat back and tucked into his takeaway and ‘watched her take her last breath’

Mother-of-three Lisa, 28, was found at the home they shared at Blackhall, near Peterlee, County Durham in August 2009

‘When you spoke to witnesses about what you had done, you showed no remorse, even boasting about the killing, saying she deserved it.

‘You admitted after stabbing her you stamped on her face and let her bleed to death on the floor in your house.’

READ MORE: Moment man ‘confesses’ to ‘murdering mother-of-four ex-girlfriend’ who has been missing for more than a decade in 999 call played to court

Allan had earlier pleaded guilty to murder. The court was told that at the time he was serving a suspended sentence for assaulting her.

On the night of the killing Allan telephoned former partner Patricia Douglas, saying: ‘I’ve stabbed her and I watched her take her last breath as I sat eating a kebab with chilli sauce.

‘It was red and I said “This is your blood”.’

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Allan showed Miss Douglas a picture of Miss Leckenby’s children on a key ring and sneered: ‘Oh too bad, you haven’t got a mother anymore.’

He also withdrew some of her money from a cash machine, and said to another friend she would not need it ‘because she is dead now’.

The body was found after Allan rang the police, pretending to be someone else.

Lisa had been knifed in the back five times, causing damage to her internal organs, one of the wounds going almost completely through her body and was 16cm deep.

After the killing, Allan tried to get friends to help him dispose of the body in a wheelie bin on a beach.

Police forensic officers at the scene in Blackhill Colliery, County Durham, where Lisa died. A judge described the murder as ‘horrible’ and ‘unforgivable’ 

The court was told that the couple had a turbulent relationship, and at the time of the murder Allen was serving a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years after admitting common assault against her.

Robert Woodcock KC, defending, said: ‘He has no clear recollection of these events.’

Allen was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 15 years.

MailOnline can reveal that Allan, now 56, was moved to an open prison late last year after his first Parole Board review. The transfer is a prelude to the killer being released on licence in the future.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said:’The Parole Board refused the release of Marcel Allan but recommended a move to an open conditions prison following an oral hearing in June 2022.

‘This was a recommendation only and the Secretary of State for Justice considers the advice before making the final decision on whether a prisoner is suitable for open conditions.

‘We will only make a recommendation for open conditions if a Parole Board panel is satisfied that the risk to the public has reduced sufficiently to be manageable in an open prison and if a transfer to open prison is considered to be essential to inform future decisions about release.

‘A move to open conditions involves testing the prisoner’s readiness for any potential return into the community in future. Prisoners moved to open conditions can be returned to closed conditions if there is concern about their behaviour.

‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public. A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.

‘Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. Evidence from witnesses including probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements are then given at the hearing.

‘The prisoner and witnesses are then questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’

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