THIS is the moment a violent ex-cage fighter, who had just stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death, chases an innocent passer-by in the street with a knife.

Greater Manchester Police have released this CCTV footage showing the moment that after murdering his ex-girlfriend Melissa Belshaw in her Billinge home in front of her 13-year-old daughter, Andrew Wadsworth then turned his knife on a passerby who intervened to save the victim's little girl.

Violent criminal Wadsworth, 37, stabbed to death beautician Melissa Belshaw, 32, on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at her home on Upholland Road, Billinge.

St Helens Star:

Andrew Wadsworth

This was two months after he came out of prison consumed by an obsession about her sex life.

Fuelled by cocaine and alcohol, Wadsworth subjected Ms Belshaw to a prolonged attack in her bedroom.

Police were called and found mum-of-one Melissa Belshaw with serious injuries and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Melissa Belshaw

A passer-by bravely rescued Ms Belshaw's 13-year-old daughter by smashing into the house in Billinge with a hammer before Wadsworth came outside and chased a stranger who he pinned to the ground and knifed repeatedly before police intervened.

Today he was sentenced to life behind bars with a minimum jail term of 32 years.

Read more about the case here.

Sentencing him on Thursday to life imprisonment, Mrs Justice Yip said: "At trial, you painted a very negative picture of Ms Belshaw as you set out to shift responsibility away from you and to blame her for what happened. Some of the things you claimed were demonstrably false.

"Your character assassination undoubtedly went beyond anything that was justified. You had degraded her in her life and you continued to do so after her death.

"She may have made some mistakes in her life but at the time of her death she was pursuing her dream of having her own beauty salon. She was still only young and was seeking to turn her life around. Sadly, she made a fatal mistake in becoming involved with you and you took her future away."

Wadsworth, of Cranfield Road, Wigan, was found guilty by the jury of murder and attempted murder, and pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two assaults on police officers.

He was cleared of making a threat to kill against Ms Belshaw's daughter.

Mrs Justice Yip commended the bravery of van driver Kevin Moores, 40, who pulled Ms Belshaw's daughter to safety after she courageously rang police and then helped Ms Belshaw's neighbour, Gerard Bristow, 46, break free from Wadsworth's grasp.

The judge said Wadsworth had come close to killing Mr Bristow, who suffered wounds to his chest and head, a partially severed right ear and a punctured lung.

A wound to his right shoulder has left him with nerve damage, which has left him unable to exercise and play sport, the court heard.

In a victim personal statement, Ms Belshaw's mother, Jean Mulvaney, said her daughter was a "beautiful soul inside and out, who had a heart of gold and many friends".

She added: "The opening of a new shop was her dream and a turning point for her life."

Following sentencing, Ms Belshaw's family said: "The trial has been an extremely traumatic experience as we've had to sit through every detail of how Melissa was killed.

"The defence continually tried to destroy her memory and showed a total lack of sympathy or sensitivity towards the family and the loss we have suffered."