Colette Law: Parents of woman whose body found in tent pay tribute as abusive partner gets jail

The parents of a woman whose body was found in a tent a week after her death, have paid tribute to their "beautiful" daughter, who they described as "happy" and "outgoing". Colette Law, 26, was discovered in a tent in the grounds of St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Spalding, Lincolnshire, on July 17 last year after being seriously assaulted by her boyfriend.

Paul Neilson, 30, was arrested and admitted to assaulting Colette days before she died. Police discovered that after finding her dead body, Neilson told friends she had returned to her native Greenock, in Inverclyde in Scotland.

Petite Colette, who weighed just six stone, was a talented singer and had twice auditioned to appear on ITV’s X-Factor. Last April, she had moved to Spalding to start a new life with Neilson but was living rough after she was unable to get accommodation. Shortly before she left Scotland, she had completed a nursery nurse course to fulfil her dream of working with children.

Her heartbroken family say she died from a bleed on the brain and her body was so badly decomposed they were unable to see her to say goodbye. The delay in locating Colette’s body also meant the post-mortem was unable to confirm the cause of death.

In a lengthy tribute submitted via Lincolnshire Police, her parents, Trisha and John Law said their lives "are and never will be the same again" after losing their youngest child.

They said: "It feels like we have lost a limb. Her older sisters, Jennifer and Patricia miss her so much. When we had Colette we thought she would be a boy, but when she arrived we were overjoyed. Colette was happy and outgoing, her laugh was infectious, you couldn’t help but laugh with her, even if you had no idea what she was laughing at.

"Colette always loved her purple hair, her favourite colour was purple. She loved to sing and do karaoke. She was funny, she was the life and soul of the family. She would sing her songs and dance. Every corner we turn she is there. When we are driving in the car with the radio on, we always hear songs that remind us of her. She loved to sing and would sing her heart out. There’s not an hour that goes by that doesn’t remind us of Colette - Her favourite songs, her favourite things, her videos."

Investigators in Major Crime initially charged Neilson with murder but the charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Neilson admitted assault by beating, two counts of actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice by deliberately failing to alert the authorities when he knew Colette was dead.

On Wednesday, January 24, he was jailed for four years and eight months at Lincoln Crown Court. After the sentencing, Detective Inspector Adrian Czajkowski, from Lincolnshire Police described Neilson as a "domestic abuse perpetrator" who assaulted Colette in the days before her death.

Colette's parents said Colette has left them "with lots of amazing memories" including "something as simple as making the gravy". They said: "She would always have to make it for us to avoid the lumps of her mum’s gravy making. We are sure that the gravy at Christmas would have not been up to Colette’s standard but it is yet another memory that we hold dear.

"Her amazing TikTok videos (Colette's TikTok video) still make us smile and laugh, and although we can’t be with Colette she is still with us every day. Everyone in Greenock loved Colette, the community all knew her. Everyone misses her and has supported us through all of this. They all miss her. She made a huge impression on everyone she met and the Spalding community have been a great comfort throughout this, with the care and kindness that they gave Colette in the three months she lived there.

"Even when she was miles away we were in contact all the time, so many times a day, we always spoke even when she’d not got her own phone she would find a way to speak with us. The last three years of Colette’s life was not what parents would wish for their daughter. Colette had everything; a roof over her head, good friends and family around her.

"All she ever wanted was to love and be loved back. She wanted to be a wee mum, have a nice house and now we will never know how she would have turned out because she was never given the chance. Colette is the first to pass in our family. We will never forget Colette, she was our beautiful daughter and best friend and will live on in our memories forever."