A 25-YEAR-OLD man who murdered a Somerset woman in a Leeds flat will be sentenced today.

Joe Atkinson pleaded guilty to murdering Poppy Devey Waterhouse, from Frome, when he appeared at Leeds Crown Court last week.

Miss Devey Waterhouse's body was found at the flat they shared in at The Avenue, Leeds, on December 14.

in January, a coroner heard how paramedics were called to the flat "in relation to an assault by stabbing".

The brief inquest hearing was told that a post-mortem examination revealed that 24-year-old Miss Devey Waterhouse died from "head and neck trauma".

Atkinson pleaded guilty to murdering Miss Devey Waterhouse in a short hearing in packed courtroom last Friday.

Dressed in a blue, crew-necked jumper, the defendant spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his guilty plea to the single charge, watched by many members of his own and his victim's families.

A number of people in court were in tears but no details of the case were given during the hearing.

Atkinson, of The Avenue, Richmond Hill, Leeds, was remanded in custody by the judge, Mr Justice Lavender, who will sentence him later on Friday.

It is understood the defendant and Miss Devey Waterhouse lived together in the flat and that the couple met when they were both studying at Nottingham University.

Miss Devey Waterhouse, who was originally from Frome, in Somerset, worked as an analyst for William Hill.