A man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend with a pair of scissors in a “ferocious and brutal” attack has been jailed for life.

Liam Taylor, 37, of Hornsey, stabbed Ailish Walsh more than 40 times and smashed her head with a dumbbell at her flat in Rectory Road, Hackney, on December 15 last year.

Irish-born Ailish was almost 23 weeks pregnant with a baby girl when her boyfriend launched what judge Nigel Lickley KC called a “sadistic” attack.

She was discovered covered in blood and unconscious in her bedroom by her own father.

Taylor was found with cocaine, cannabis and alcohol in his system when he was arrested at his home the morning after the attack.

As he was taken into custody, he reportedly told police: “It’s crazy how one moment of madness can change your whole life.”

During sentencing, the judge told the former roofer, who watched from Belmarsh Prison, that his actions were “an extreme example of domestic abuse”.

He said: “You betrayed her trust in that you murdered her in her own home.”

Judge Lickley added that the attack also appeared to be “sexual” in nature because the 37-year-old had targeted certain parts of Ailish’s body.

Friends and family cheered and applauded in court as Taylor, who had his head in his hands, was sentenced.

The court heard the pair had a “volatile relationship” and that Taylor was upset about Ailish’s latest pregnancy because he had two girls and wanted a boy.

Taylor was jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years for Ailish’s murder during a hearing at the Old Bailey yesterday (August 24).

It comes after he pleaded guilty to her murder earlier this year. 

The 37-year-old had previous convictions for attacking female members of his own family.

He was jailed for a year for assaulting his mother with a metal pole and cautioned by police for headbutting his sister when she was 16 years old.

Some reporting by PA.