SENTENCING STATEMENTS

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When deciding a sentence, a judge must deal with the offence that the offender has been convicted of, taking into account the unique circumstances of each particular case. The judge will carefully consider the facts that are presented to the Court by both the prosecution and by the defence.

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HMA v Michelle Ramage and Ryan Hill

Mar 13, 2025

At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Mulholland sentenced Michelle Ramage and Ryan Hill to life imprisonment for the murder of Susan Turner. The punishment part of the sentence, the time which must be spent in custody, was set at 22 years for Ramage and 20 years for Hill.

On sentencing, Lord Mulholland said:

“Michelle Ramage and Ryan Hill, you have both been convicted of the brutal murder of a defenceless woman, Susan Turner, who posed no threat to either of you. She weighed about seven and a half stones. As she was being subject to the homicidal assault, she begged you to let her go. You ignored her pleas and subjected her to a brutal and cowardly assault.

The evidence shows that she was attacked with weapons, a golf club, scissors, mugs, a baseball bat, a dog chain, a radio and a machete, although I will take into account the deletions made by the jury in your case Ryan Hill.

The injuries you inflicted on this defenceless woman were catastrophic. You cut and pulled out clumps of her hair from her scalp, her right nipple was nearly cut off, she was scored over and over on the front of her body, and around her breast. She was stripped and rendered almost naked. It was akin to torture and was clearly designed to demean and to disfigure her as a woman. She was repeatedly stabbed with scissors and repeatedly hit on the head and body with a golf club and other weapons. She was strangled with a dressing gown cord. She was dragged along the floor and beaten to her death. She must have been in agony at the time of her death.

In sentencing you, I take into account the circumstances of your crimes, everything that has been said on your behalf, the terms of the Criminal Justice Social Work Reports, your criminal records, in your case Michelle Ramage the timing of the offer to plead guilty to murder which was ultimately accepted by the Crown, in your case Ryan Hill the deletions that the jury made to the charge in finding you guilty and the fact that you were not the actor in the homicidal assault.

I hereby sentence you both to life imprisonment. Michelle Ramage, had you not offered to plead guilty when you did, I would have fixed the punishment part at 24 years. Taking account of the timing of your offer to plead guilty, the punishment part will be reduced to 22 years. Ryan Hill taking account of the deletions made by the jury and the lesser part you played in the murder, I will fix the punishment part at 20 years.

The punishment part is the time you will have to serve before being eligible to apply for parole. I stress eligible, as there is no guarantee you will ever be released. Whether or not you are released is a decision for the parole board alone to take, based on the risk that you pose to the public at the time.

I will order that both your sentences should run from 6 April 2023, the date both of you were first ordered into custody by the court for this matter.

In your case Hill, I will make no apportionment of the sentence to the bail aggravation”