- After escaping a brutal attack by her ex, 32-year-old Rebekah Campbell found new love with former boxer Michael Ormandy — but he soon became controlling and violent.
- When Rebekah finally ended the relationship, Ormandy stormed into her flat wearing a bulletproof vest and stabbed her 18 times as she begged him to leave.
- A jury rejected his “self-defence” claim and convicted him of murder, with the judge condemning his jealous, violent rage.
Rebekah Campbell, 32, had big dreams.
Passionate about hairdressing, she dreamed of one day owning her own salon.
But more than anything, Rebekah wanted to be a mum.
She’d hoped to find Mr Right who she could settle down with, but she’d been unlucky in love.
In December 2024, her relationship with Joseph Cummins, 30, ended when he turned violent.
The pair had got into a row over money on Boxing Day, and Joseph, a mixed martial arts fighter, exploded, pulling her hair out and pushing her down the stairs.
Terrified for her life, Rebekah played dead, but the blows kept coming as Joseph kicked her while she was on the ground.
Thankfully, Rebekah managed to flee, flagging down an elderly neighbour who contacted police.
As Rebekah healed, her friends and family rallied around her, particularly her mother, Deborah.
Rebekah was determined the next man she met was going to treat her well.
But she was in no hurry to find ‘The One’. She was focusing on herself.
So when Michael Ormandy, 34, introduced himself at Lanigan’s Irish Bar two weeks later, in January 2025, Rebekah was taken aback.
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She certainly wasn’t looking for love, but she couldn’t deny the instant spark with the former boxer.
Michael showered her with love and Rebekah, who was still fragile from her previous relationship, felt treasured.
‘The pair were oftern seen laughing and joking’
Things progressed quickly, and soon Michael was staying at Rebekah’s flat almost every night.
The pair were often seen laughing and joking when out and about.
But over the next couple of months, Rebekah found her new beau to be increasingly possessive.
During a night out with friends in April 2025, Michael grew furious as Rebekah let her hair down, showing off her moves on the dancefloor.
Outside the bar, Michael shouted at her.
Things turned uglier when Rebekah, who didn’t want to pushed around again, saw red, and slapped him across the face.
But things between the pair grew more heated.
After moving on to another bar, Michael punched Rebekah in the face.
‘You said you’d never hit me’
Horrified, Rebekah went to hospital, before spending the night with her friend Faye.
Despite the physical pain, the knowledge she’d made the same mistake and fallen for another violent man cut her to the core.
You said you would never hit me and it took you three months, she wrote to Michael, who’d been accusing her of being unfaithful over text.
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Mentally and physically scarred, a heartbroken Rebekah broke things off.
I’m scared of you now. I don’t wanna know what you would do to me behind closed doors, she typed.
With the love of friends and family, she wanted to get on with life, sure she didn’t need a man, especially not a violent one.
Even after sleeping with another woman a couple of days after he’d hit her, Michael couldn’t let Rebekah go, sending angry messages
demanding to know if they were still together.
Rebekah stayed strong replying, I’m hurt, injured and upset… I’m not doing a toxic relationship again, at 10.23pm on April 15.
Just minutes later, while she was on the phone to her bestie, Michael stormed through the door wearing a bullet proof vest.
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‘Get out, Mick!’ she shouted, as a scuffle broke out.
But Rebekah was no match for the former fighter, who stabbed her 18 times, before fleeing.
Desperate to survive, Rebekah staggered to the lift, before collapsing outside the building.
‘My fella stabbed me,’ she told neighbours who rushed to her aid, making sure the world knew who had stabbed her.
In the ambulance, Rebekah turned to emergency workers. ‘Am I going to die?’ she asked.
‘You’re hurt, but you are in the best place now,’ a police officer promised.
Sadly Rebekah passed away just after midnight.
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With nowhere to run, Michael called police later that day to turn himself in.
He claimed it was self defence, but police didn’t buy it.
Rebekah’s body was littered with 27 knife injuries, including nine slash wounds, while Michael had just one small cut to his finger.
He was charged with murder.
In August 2025, Rebekah’s original abuser, Joseph Cummins, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court, where he was found guilty of common
assault, and sentenced to five months in prison, suspended for two years.
In October, Michael Ormandy, 34, appeared in the same court, and pleaded not guilty to murder.
The court was told that on the night of Rebekah’s murder, Ormandy snuck into her apartment block via a back entrance.
He’d been eavesdropping on the other side of her front door as she spoke to Faye on the phone, before bursting in and unleashing his brutal attack.
Ormandy’s defence team claimed that he stabbed Rebekah in self-defence when she lunged at him with a knife.
But the jury saw through his lies, taking just over two hours to find him guilty of murder.
Rebekah’s mum Deborah delivered her victim impact statement.
‘It tortures me to think of how she suffered’
‘It tortures me to think of how she suffered… This never should have happened to Rebekah, just because she didn’t want to be in a relationship.’
Sentencing Michael Ormandy to life in prison, with a minimum of 24 years, Judge Andrew Menary KC condemned his actions.
‘This senseless and pointless killing resulted simply from your jealousy, your desire to control her, and your uncontrolled aggressive rage,’ he said.
Afterwards, Detective Superintendent Ben Dyer said, ‘Our communities are safer with him removed from the streets.’
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