The Manchester Evening News reported a jury convicted Stephen Garner of murdering Amber O'Brien.

A murder verdict after a guilty plea to manslaughter is the jury's finding that the lesser count he admitted was not the offense. The Manchester Evening News says he faces a life sentence and that sentencing is November 26, so life is the exposure, not a term already set. Inside that same story the news copy spells him Stephen and a Crown Prosecution Service quotation spells him Stephan.

The Manchester Evening News, in a story by Andrew Bardsley and Amy Walker whose page lists datePublished as 2026-11-02T16:41:40Z and whose byline prints 16:41 on 02 Nov 2026, reported that a jury at Manchester Crown Court found Stephen Garner guilty of murder. It reported Garner, 31, of Somerton Court, Blackley, killed Amber O'Brien, 33, in his flat in Blackley, north Manchester, after an argument. It reported she was nine weeks pregnant with his twins. It reported the killing was in the early hours of April 18, in his eighth-floor flat, and that he later told a relative, who called police. It reported he had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, denied murder, and that the jury found him guilty. It reported he now faces a life sentence and is due to be sentenced on November 26. A guilty plea to manslaughter is an admission of that count. It is not the murder verdict. A life sentence he faces, and a hearing on November 26, are not a term already imposed. The news copy spells him Stephen. The same story quotes Jo White, Senior Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, spelling him Stephan Garner. Stephen and Stephan are not the same spelling. The story does not say which spelling is on the indictment.

The paper reported the pair had been in a relationship for about three months. It reported she told her brother that she and Garner argued a lot over silly things and that she was unhappy about his mood swings. The brother is not named. It reported that two weeks before her death she told her brother, of Garner, "Something ain't fitting with me." It reported a running dispute over her flat in Middleton, that jurors were told he wanted her to give it up and move in with him, that she felt pressured, and that she did move into the Blackley flat three weeks before her death. It reported prosecutor Nigel Power KC said the friction was not all one way and that she could be heard threatening Garner on an audio recording. It reported that in the early hours of April 18 she called her brother and said, "I can't stand him, I'm not staying here," that she left the flat, and that she later returned with Garner. It reported he was arrested at about 7 p.m. on April 19, that he was interviewed twice, and that he made no comment both times. It reported he told jurors he had lost control. It reported the jury rejected that account and found him guilty of murder. What he told the jury is his evidence. The guilty verdict is the jury's finding.

The paper reported Power told the jury that Garner then spent the next day and a half bleaching the flat and destroying telephones before a relative called police. The same sentence in the paper describes what was done with the body. That description is not repeated here. It reported he later told a relative he had been cleaning the bathroom after buying bleach and scouring sponges from Poundland, and that police forced their way into the flat just after 6 p.m. the following day. It reported officers noticed an overpowering smell of bleach. It quoted Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe, of Greater Manchester Police's Serious Crime Division: "Firstly, it is my hope that today's result provides Amber's family with a sense of justice and closure, through what has been an incredibly difficult time." It reported White said Stephan Garner subjected Amber O'Brien to a sustained attack and then took deliberate steps to cover his tracks, that Garner denied intending to kill her or cause her serious harm, and that the jury found him guilty of murder. A prosecutor's hope that a verdict brings closure is not the sentence. November 26 is the date the paper gives for sentencing. The story does not report that an appeal has been filed. He retains the right to appeal. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.