Trevor Gibbon sentenced to life for stabbing neighbour Alison Morrison 33 times over noise dispute

A man who murdered his neighbour following a long-term dispute over noise was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday (30 June).

Trevor Gibbon, 48, of Harrow, was found guilty of murdering 45-year-old Alison Morrison by stabbing her 33 times in a "calm and calculated" manner while she walked to the tube on her way to work on 18 December 2014.

He ambushed Morrison the day after he was handed a restraining order after admitting to harassing her and her family in their neighbouring north-west London homes.

During a trial at the Old Bailey, the jury heard how the arguments started in 2011 after Gibbon complained about the noise supposedly made by Morrison's son while riding his skateboard.

Gibbon then embarked on a harassment campaign against Morrison, including trapping her in her car, banging dustbin lids at 6am and repeatedly flashing his car lights and sounding his horn to disturb her.

Eventually he was charged with harassing the family and admitted the offence the day before he stabbed Morrison. As the mother-of-one lay dying in the street, she told people who went to her aid: "Trevor Gibbon did this to me."

Gibbon pleaded guilty to manslaughter, claiming he was suffering from "abnormality of mental functioning" due to depression but denied murder. However, a jury unanimously found him guilty at the trial.

Gibbon has now been sentenced to life with a minimum of 28 years for the "truly horrifying" murder.

Upon sentencing, Judge Timothy Pontius said: "This was not a frenzied loss of control on the defendant's part but a merciless act of vengeance indubitably with the intent to kill Alison Morrison in the forefront of his mind.

"This brutal murder robbed a close-knit family of a devoted and caring wife, mother, sister and aunt. A woman the victim impact statements make movingly clear with a zest for life and enthusiasm for her responsible and stimulating job.

"As a result her family have been left devastated and the devastating effects on the relationship between her husband and her son may take a very long time to repair."

Following the conviction, Morrison's widower Cedric told the court: "Alison was my best friend, my soulmate, the soul of our home and the breadwinner to the household.

"Alison's death will always be beyond my comprehension because she died for nothing in the cruellest way possible at the hands of our neighbour. A bright light has been extinguished forever."

Morrison's son Kori added: "Every morning, when I wake up, I have to remind myself that my mum is gone. I realise I can never again go into her room to wake her. It breaks my heart every day not to have her with me.

"I so desperately want my mum back and I would do anything to have her here with me again. But I know she's never coming back and I'll never see her again. Never speak to her, play with her, enjoy a meal with her, go out with her or do anything ever again with her. All because of one man – Trevor Gibbon – the man who murdered my mum."