Outraged family of sado-masochistic sex victim hits out as killer is freed from six-year jail term
Outraged family of mother, 21, who was stabbed to death during cocaine-fuelled sado-masochistic sex with man she’d just met hit out as her killer is freed from jail after just three years
- Jason Gaskell had killed Laura Huteson, 21, when having ‘bizarre and violent’ sex
- Gaskell had snorted cocaine, held a knife to her neck and pierced her artery
- But he was released halfway through his jail term to the dismay of victim’s family
- Huteson’s relatives slammed his early release and said the courts failed them
The family of a young mother who was stabbed to death during ‘bizarre and violent’ sex have slammed the early release of her killer less than halfway through his prison sentence.
Laura Huteson, 21, died just hours after meeting her killer Jason Gaskell, who held a knife to her neck during cocaine-fuelled, sado-masochistic sex at his home in Hull in 2018.
Gaskell, then 24, was sentenced to six years in prison in August 2018, after pleading guilty to manslaughter at court.
But to the dismay of Ms Huteson’s family, Gaskell was released in April – less than three years into his sentence.
The family have revealed emotional wounds have been reopened in the wake of Gaskell’s release from jail.
Her cousin Holly Hayward said: ‘We feel like Laura has been completely let down by the system. She deserves justice and the courts failed her and us.
‘Gaskell should have been stopped sooner. How can he be now out living his life when she’s gone?’
Laura Huteson, 21, (pictured) was stabbed to death during ‘bizarre and violent’ sado-masochistic sex at Gaskell’s home in Hull
Sheffield Crown Court heard how Ms Huteson and Gaskell had first met ‘hours earlier’.
The pair returned to Gaskell’s £110,000 Orchard Park home that night, where they drank and took cocaine until the early hours of the morning.
But while having sex, Gaskell revealed a knife he had hidden under the pillow and pressed it to Ms Huteson’s neck – severing her artery.
The court heard ‘mild to moderate force’ was needed to inflict the injury, which was a single stab wound.
However Gaskell said he only realised he’d stabbed the mother-of-one when she ‘gave a jerking motion’.
After Gaskell killed Miss Huteson, a mother-of-one, he was seen half-naked, covered in blood and looking ‘possessed’ as he ran outside his home on Milldane, Orchard Park.
The blood-soaked killer made a ‘highly distressed’ 999 call just after 9am on February 27, lying to operators and telling them his victim had ‘fallen’ and ‘rolled’ on the knife.
Gaskell sobbed in court as he was sentenced after pleading guilty to manslaughter instead.
But to the horror of Ms Huteson’s family, Laura’s killer was released less than halfway through his six-year sentence.
Mother-of-one Laura (left) had only met her killer Jason Gaskell hours earlier and she died after cocaine-fuelled, sado-masochistic sex at his home in Hull in 2018
Laura’s cousin, Holly said: ‘ The wounds have really been opened again since Gaskell’s release.
‘We feel like Laura has been completely let down by the system and want to know how Gaskell got such a short sentence with all his previous violent convictions in mind.
‘We just can’t believe that he is a free man now.
‘Laura was like a lost soul and we begged the mental services to help her but got nowhere.
‘But she was such a loving and lovely person despite her difficulties and people always had different opinions of Laura, but her family knew who she truly was.
‘She was like a mother hen to my daughter and the bond they had meant they were like sisters.
‘Laura has gone but I keep expecting her to walk through the door. If I could just see Laura again I would say thank you for being in our lives and such a brilliant mother to her son and friend.
‘She was kind, caring, funny, feisty and you always knew when she came into a room as she brightened it up and was the life and soul of the party and had a heart of gold.’
Jason Gaskell, 24, was given a six-year jail sentence at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting the gross negligence manslaughter of Laura Huteson, 21, by stabbing her through the neck
A 2018 court heard Gaskell had a number of previous convictions, including being jailed for 18 months in October 2016 for aggravated vehicle taking and theft.
He also has convictions for burglary, assault, and threatening behaviour.
Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC told Gaskell: ‘In simple terms you unlawfully killed the woman with whom you were having sexual intercourse by stabbing her through the neck during bizarre and violent, sado-masochistic sexual activity.
‘You deliberately held the knife to her throat during sexual intercourse. Whilst performing the sexual act that knife went through her neck, severing a vital artery and vein.
‘You did not intend that to happen but the danger of stabbing the victim was obvious.’
Paying tribute at the time, Miss Huteson’s partner of five years, Benjamin Guy, added: ‘I loved her more than anything, I will never be the same again.
‘She was the best person I ever met. She was my everything.’
The Ministry of Justice declined to comment on Gaskell’s release.
