Sexual predator Simon Goold has been jailed for life for the rape and murder of 26-year-old Elizabeth McCann in Ashton last summer.

Goold, 52, of Manchester Road, Ashton, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years today.

Sitting at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Alan Conrad KC described Goold’s offences as ‘truly wicked’, branding him ‘a highly dangerous sexual predator who has an obsession with extreme sexual violence’.

The court heard how Goold had ‘plied’ Elizabeth with drink, while drinking ‘little if any’ alcohol himself on the date of her murder. It was also highlighted that Elizabeth was on an antidepressant medication which made the consumption of alcohol undesirable. 

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC revealed that Goold already holds 27 previous convictions, including offences of rape and sexual assault.

In October 2010, Goold was jailed after he had raped a recently widowed neighbour at knife point, telling her ‘I want to kill you and bury you in my back yard’.

The prosecution detailed ‘some strikingly similar features’ in this previous crime and that of last summer.

Goold was released on April 15, 2019, having been assessed and said to have developed good insight. 

He then committed his most recent offences while still under probation supervision.

Within months of release from prison, he enrolled as a student at The Health and Wellbeing College in Ashton - which is where he met Elizabeth.

In a victim impact statement the court heard from Elizabeth’s mother.

She said: “Lizzie was the most amazing and beautiful daughter anyone could ask for and we will always miss her, her personality touched anyone who met her.

“She was so trusting and despite being let down or used by people she called friends throughout her life, this never deterred her - she always wanted to make new friends.

“She was so excited when she found out she was pregnant with her daughter in July 2018.

“We have seriously struggled to accept that she is gone. I keep trying to ring her in an attempt to speak to her again, and I have dreams where I can't quite reach her. We all just feel numb from her loss. As her mother, I felt her death was my responsibility as I failed to protect her. No parent should ever have to bury their child.”

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