A domestic abuser sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of his ex-partner and her new boyfriend has lost an appeal to reduce his prison sentence in the Court of Appeal.

Marcus Osborne was jailed in March for the stabbing attack on 27-year-old Katie Higton, which injured 99 people; and Steven Harnett, 25, with 24 injuries, including mutilated genitals; He later compared them to Romeo and Juliet and said that “they can die together now”.

Leeds Crown Court heard Osborne, who was 35 when he was sentenced, ambushed Ms Higton in the early hours of May 15 last year and attacked her as she entered the home they once shared in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

He then used Ms Higton’s phone to lure Mr Harnett into the house, where he then murdered her and raped another woman at knifepoint while four children were on the property.

Earlier on Wednesday, Osborne’s lawyers told the Court of Appeal that the sentence should be reduced because the judge disregarded the guilty plea and that a life sentence was “not necessary”.

He said: “(The sentencing judge) had the right to consider that this was not a borderline case and leave no doubt as to its seriousness; for it was of such extraordinary severity that even a very long minimum term would not amount to a just punishment.

“The facts of these two murders, together with the crimes involved and taking into account the relevant aggravating factors, are so appalling that, despite the applicant’s guilty plea, all life sentences were appropriate.

“At the end of the day these were two planned and brutal murders, motivated by sexual jealousy and involving sexual conduct, committed under circumstances designed to maximize the depravity of the murders by an individual with a history of serious violence against one of the victims and previous domestic partners.”

Ms Higton had complained to police that the relationship had been “coercive, controlling and physically abusive” over the past two years and that she had been regularly assaulted; This includes one case where he threw a cat at her.

She also told West Yorkshire Police in the days before the murders that Osborne told her that he would “slit her throat if she said she did it” and that “if she had a boyfriend he would kill them both”.

Osborne was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence on May 12 last year and released on bail on the condition he not return to their home, but in the days that followed he spied on Ms Higton and hacked into the relationship that had developed between her and Mr Harnett. his Snapchat account.

He later admitted two murders, one count of rape and false imprisonment, and had previous convictions for violent crimes against two of his partners.

Sentencing judge Mrs Justice Lambert said Osborne was heard saying “I warned you I was going to kill you… it’s your fault” as he attacked Miss Higton and was laughing between the killings. and I’m kidding.

He later invited a neighbor into the living room to see the bodies, and the judge said it was “as if you were proud of what you had done.”

John Elvidge KC, for Osborne, told the court in London that the declaration of guilt should be given “heavy weight” because they saved the rape victim from having to give evidence.

But Baroness Carr, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mr Justice Bennathan, dismissed the appeal, stating that some of Ms Higton’s injuries were “inflicted with intent to disfigure as well as kill” and that the original sentencing decision “cannot be appealed”. .

He said: “We do not accept the allegation that the judge improperly reduced the weight to be given to the applicant’s guilty plea.”

Osborne attended the hearing via a video link from HMP Wakefield wearing a gray Adidas jumper and did not react as his appeal bid was rejected.