A man who walked 28 miles stab his ex-girlfriend and her autistic son to death is facing life in prison after being found guilty of their murders.

Daniel Boulton, 30, led police on a 24-hour manhunt after killing Bethany Vincent, 26, and nine-year-old Darren Hunt while a baby was in her house in Louth, Lincolnshire, at around 8pm on 31 May 2021.

Boulton pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the second day of his trial, as well as assault with intent to resist arrest, and burglary.

A jury rejected his manslaughter defence and he was found guilty of murder on Tuesday.

Boulton is due to be sentenced on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old, who was subject to a restraining order, had developed a “hatred” for Darren and “loitered” outside the property for hours before carrying out the murders, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

A nine-month-old baby was crawling around the house when emergency services arrived and the killer had left a note which read “I Daniel Boulton, take full responsibility for 182”.

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He led police on a 24-hour chase and stabbed an off-duty officer in the leg in Louth before being Tasered and arrested on a nearby farm.

Boulton tried to claim he was on “autopilot” at the time of the murders, but jurors dismissed his defence of loss of control.

During the trial, the jury heard how Boulton and Ms Vincent had begun dating after meeting on the Tinder app.

However, their relationship “deteriorated” by the end of March 2019 and Boulton was eventually ordered not to contact Ms Vincent.

Boulton sent Ms Vincent nearly 900 messages over the bank holiday weekend before the murder.

One message read: “You destroyed my life and have the cheek to say I ruined yours.”

The killer had previously told a Salvation Army support worker that he wanted to “wipe out the bloodline” of Ms Vincent’s family.

Speaking about the relationship between Boulton and Ms Vincent in her opening speech to the jury, prosecutor Katherine Goddard QC said despite two restraining orders, he “continued to contact Bethany – by telephone, by text message, by social media messages, and by unannounced and uninvited visits to her home”.

She continued: “None of that contact was sought by Bethany and, in fact, only a few days after her and DJ were stabbed to death, they were due to move to a new house – to an address unknown to Mr Boulton.

“Social services became involved with Bethany and her family after her first complaint to the police of domestic violence in November 2020.

“Their concerns related only to the risk Mr Boulton presented to the family.

“He had, by then, expressed a hatred of Darren, a nine-year-old boy… who had been diagnosed with autism.”

Telling the jury what witnesses had seen of Boulton on the day of the murders, Ms Goddard said: “He was seen running from an alleyway leading to the back of number 182.

“He seemed flushed, agitated, and called out to the witnesses to call an ambulance as someone had been stabbed inside.

“He then casually walked away, not waiting for the emergency services to arrive.”

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