Woman jailed for life after murdering and dismembering Phoenix Netts

A woman has been jailed for life over the murder and dismembering of Phoenix Netts in Birmingham last year.

Gareeca Gordon, 28, was told by a judge at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday that she was considered a “very dangerous young woman” and would serve at least 23 years and six months behind bars.

Mrs Justice Cutts said it would then be for the parole board to decide if Gordon should ever be released but warned her she will remain on licence for the rest of her life regardless.

Gordon admitted to killing Ms Netts before being sentenced, after she was accused of stabbing the former student to death at the HMO property the pair shared in Lozells, West Birmingham, on 16 April 2020.

She then bought a circular saw and disposed of Ms Netts’ body in two large suitcases.

But a member of the public and two police officers spotted Gordon at or near the Forest of Dean, where the body was dumped, leading her to last month plead guilty to the murder charge and avoid being tried by a jury.

While officers saw Gordon standing close to a quarry with two large suitcases, which were later found to contain Ms Netts’ remains, the civilian reported a suspicious vehicle driving near Coleford, in Gloucestershire, on the evening of 12 May.

Justice Cutts, sentencing this afternoon, described Gordon as a “very dangerous young woman” who had killed Ms Netts in her own bedroom.

“You stabbed her four times. None of these wounds would have been fatal had you called for help,” the judge told Gordon.

She said that a post-mortem examination showed Ms Netts would have survived for a “number of hours” after being stabbed by Gordon.

“You were aware that she was seriously injured and may not recover but yet you did nothing about it,” the judge said. “She must have been very frightened in those hours before she died.”

Justice Cutts told Gordon her crime had been “aggravated by the considerable physical and mental suffering” she inflicted on Ms Netts before her death “in not summonsing the emergency services”.

The court also heard how Gordon went to “considerable efforts” to dispose of Ms Netts’ remains and to pretend she was still alive in “cold and calculated” messages to her friends and family.

“You impersonated Ms Netts in a substantial number of WhatsApp messages to her mother, including requests for money,” the judge said.

“You impersonated her in messages. You noted expressions that Ms Netts used by listening to audio files Ms Netts had on her phone.”

The judge acknowledged that Gordon had been diagnosed with a personality disorder, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, but said neither had “distorted” reality enough for her to explain why she murdered Ms Netts.

She told the court Ms Netts’ murder was not accompanied by sexual acts and was not premeditated.

Gordon had no previous convictions, apart from two offences of shoplifting.

Additional reporting by PA