Lee Nolan strangled Katelyn Parker to death with power cable after she refused to let him cut her hair

Lee Nolan has been sentenced to life behind bars after choking Katelyn Parker to death with a power cable when she refused to let the psychopath cut her hair. Nolan, 48, of Bamford Road, Heywood, was sentenced on Tuesday (9 February) at Manchester Crown Court to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to the murder of the 24-year-old. He will serve at least 18 years.

Nolan visited Parker's house on the day of her death, where he offered to cut her hair. It was when she refused the offer that he flew into a murderous rage, strangling her with the cord. A post-mortem examination later confirmed that Parker died from ligature strangulation.

Detectives managed to trace Nolan after he picked a man up in his blue Nissan NX100 and attempted to buy cannabis from him. While they were in the car Nolan bragged that he had killed a woman and her body was in the boot of the car.

When the man expressed his disbelief, Nolan pulled one of the rear seats in the car down and revealed Parker's body. The following day, police spotted the car driving on Claybank Street, Heywood. Following a short pursuit Nolan abandoned the car behind a pub on Bamford Road and attempted to flee the scene.

He was detained nearby, as was a 70-year-old man he was travelling with. Once officers had searched the car, Nolan and the other man were both arrested on suspicion of murder. No further action was taken against the 70-year-old man, but Nolan was charged with murder.

Senior investigating officer Duncan Thorpe said: "What happened to Katelyn was a tragedy and her friends and family went through something that nobody ever should. I know the sentence passed here today won't change what happened but I hope it will go some way to giving them all some form of closure."