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Clare Nicholls was an abusive English woman who killed Andrew Gardner, the father of her youngest child.

Biography[]

In 2005, 23 year old Clare Nicholls met 31 year old Andrew Gardner. They moved in together in Chilton, England. He became a surrogate father to Clare's three children from previous relationships and fathered a child with Clare.

While still pregnant, Clare's violent temper showed, smacking Andrew frequently when he tried to get something to eat. It took little to provoke her. A man with a below average I.Q., Andrew submitted to her. He was nice but never stood up for himself because he'd get beaten if he did stand up. But Clare also dominated her younger brother Simon, one time hitting him for not gardening to her satisfaction.

In Clare's house, nobody acted without her permission. She wouldn't let Andrew take their child to see his family. By January 2009, Andrew was only allowed to drop the children off at school down the street. She even began to starve him, and called him useless, worthless and a drain on the household budget.

The very few times Andrew dared to protest, Simon beat him down with Clare's encouragement. Andrew's was reduced to stealing food in the home he lived in. He wouldn't leave because he wanted to be with his daughter. For Andrew, being a father is an important responsibility.

Making his torture worse, Clare invited Steven Martin, her ex-lover, to move in and join the abuse of Andrew. With an I.Q. of 59, Steven was her type of lackey. Now, it's time to let the show begin.

Now with two lackeys at her command, Clare got Steven to burn him with a lighter. She got so much pleasure out of torturing Andrew she came up with more ideas to hurt him. For Clare, she wanted to kill for the sake of a twisted thrill.

Weeks of abuse took a toll on Andrew. He didn't have the strength to protest while Clare had sex with Steven right in front of him. It also turns out that inflicting pain was sexually satisfying for her.

Barely able to move, he clung on to life and hope.

On March 13, 2009, Clare began jumping on him. This fractured his ribs, piercing his lungs, heart and tissue. Slowly suffocating to death, he died in agony.

When they called the paramedics, they said he came home after being mugged. His autopsy proved otherwise. All three were arrested and convicted of murder in January 2010.

Simon Nicholls was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Steve Martins was sentenced to 20 years while Clare was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 32 years.

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