A man who stabbed his partner 27 times before telling detectives “I did really love her” has been jailed for at least 18 years for the “monstrous” murder.
Corey Dryden, 32, fatally attacked mother-of-two Megan Hughes, 31, at their home in Chirnside, in the Scottish Borders, in February this year.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Dryden was arrested by police soon after the assault and taken into custody.
Prosecutor Tracey Brown said the killer claimed he couldn’t remember what he had done and began weeping during his police interview, telling detectives: “I did really love her, you know.”
While in detention, Dryden was assessed by mental health professionals.
When asked by a nurse how he would manage if he was released on bail, he reportedly replied that was “unlikely” as he had “hacked” his girlfriend to death.
Lord Harrower said Dryden carried out a “sustained and savage attack”.
The judge referred to victim impact statements and highlighted how the violent assault deprived Ms Hughes’ family “the opportunity of looking at her face one more time”.
Dryden last month pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Hughes by repeatedly striking her on the head and body with a knife.
The charge also contained details of how he repeatedly struck his partner with a hammer “or a similar object” during the attack.
Dryden, appearing via videolink, was handed a life sentence with at least 18 years behind bars on Thursday.
Defence advocate Lili Prais KC told the court that her client “struggles to comprehend” how he could commit such a crime.
In a letter to the judge, Dryden accepted no sentence would justify the “despicable, monstrous crime I have committed”.
The court previously heard how the pair had known each other since childhood but became a couple in February 2024 before moving in together in the July of that year.
Ms Hughes had two children from a previous relationship.
In December 2024, Dryden was fined £300 at Jedburgh Sheriff Court for threatening and abusive behaviour towards Ms Hughes.
Lord Harrower highlighted a pre-sentencing report prepared at the time.
He said: “Megan had expressed her fear that you would kill her if she returned home that night. Ultimately, those fears were realised.”
The judge heard how on the day before the murder, Dryden sent text messages to friends and loved ones which showed how he was “struggling to manage his emotions within the context of the relationship”.
One message said he was trying “not to go mental”, while another read: “I’m gonna do time, wish I was single.”
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Ms Brown said at about 2.15am on 9 February, a neighbour was wakened by loud banging from the couple’s home and could hear Ms Hughes repeatedly shout: “Please help me.”
The prosecutor added: “She also heard the deceased scream, and the accused say, ‘shut up’. The neighbour was about to call 999 but things then quietened down.”
Dryden dialled 999 at about 4.30am and claimed Ms Hughes had stabbed herself after she had attacked him with a hammer.
Officers who responded found Ms Hughes lying on the floor of an upstairs bedroom with a kitchen knife in her right hand.
The emergency crews began CPR, but Ms Hughes was later pronounced dead.
A post-mortem examination ruled the cause of death as stab wounds to the chest and neck.
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When being interviewed by police, Dryden claimed Ms Hughes “hated him” and they “argued every day”.
He said on the night of the murder the pair had each drunk around a bottle and a half of wine, despite Dryden being on painkillers for his leg. He also admitted to recently taking street valium.
Dryden claimed Ms Hughes swung a hammer at him after he made a derogatory comment, but he blocked it with his crutch and disarmed her before striking her on the head with the weapon.
Dryden admitted the murder, but claimed he had “blanked out” for an unknown period of time.
He reportedly told officers: “It was like I was possessed.”
Detective Chief Inspector Laura White branded Dryden’s attack “vicious and calculated”.
She added: “His actions have robbed a family of their mum, daughter, granddaughter, sister and niece.
“Our thoughts very much remain with Megan’s family and friends as they come to terms with what happened to her.”
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