A man has admitted murdering his pregnant girlfriend after she was stabbed 40 times with a pair of scissors.
Liam Taylor attacked Ailish Walsh at her home in Hackney, London in December last year, when she was 22 weeks pregnant.
Ailish’s father called 999 after arriving an hour later and finding his daughter unconscious, covered in blood and draped with a hi-vis jacket – but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 28-year-old Ailish Walsh left behind four young children.
Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown CCTV footage of Taylor entering Ailish’s block of flats at 8.36pm on the evening of her death (15 December) and leaving at 9.14pm.
The expecting mum also alerted a friend after texting her to say she was trying to get Taylor out of the flat because he was taking drugs.
The court heard how the pal phoned Ailish five minutes before Taylor was shown to have left and heard screaming in the background.
Liam Taylor flew into a drug-fuelled rage when 28-year-old Ailish Walsh tried to get him out of her flat in Hackney.
Taylor, who knew she was carrying their baby, then grabbed the bladed item and plunged it into her 40 times before fleeing the scene.
Barrister Jane Osborne KC told a hearing: “The attack was exceptionally brutal and carried out knowing Ms Walsh was carrying the defendant’s child.
“There was a 12-week scan picture and at 22 weeks it would have been fairly evident.”
Taylor was found to have cocaine, cannabis and alcohol in his system when he was arrested the next day.
He told police as he was detained, “It’s crazy how one moment of madness can change your whole life.”
The court heard Ailish had been trying to break up with Taylor because he was taking drugs.
Ms Walsh’s father and brother were in the court room as Taylor admitted murder.
After Taylor admitted murder, the court was told he had previously been jailed for a year for assaulting his own mother with a metal pole and was cautioned for headbutting his sister when he was 16.
After news of Ailish’s death, a GoFundMe page raised more than £11,000 (€12,500) to fly Ms Walsh’s body back to her native Ireland.
Taylor, of Hornsey in east London, will return to the Old Bailey on 10 May to arrange a date for sentencing.
