A FEMALE football coach who admitted killing a teenager 14 years ago was jailed for life today.

Karen Tunmore, 36, was handed a minimum term of 17 and a half years at Newcastle Crown Court for the notorious 2004 murder of teenager Scott Pritchard in Sunderland, which was unsolved until she walked into a police station and confessed two months ago.

Scott Pritchard, 19, was found bludgeoned to death outside of his Hendon home on January 7, 2004, sparking one of the biggest manhunts in Wearside’s history.

He had been walking on crutches because of a nasty leg injury when he was violently attacked by Turnmore.

Scott's father Robert Stacey, known as Fred, was charged with murdering his own son and spent 16 weeks on remand before the case against him was dropped in 2005.

In a statement read out at Newcastle Crown Court, Mr Stacey said people continued to shout abuse at him even though he was cleared, and he was scared to walk around Sunderland city centre "for fear of being accused of a crime I did not commit".

Earlier this year, police revealed there had been a "breakthrough" in the case when Turnmore could no longer live with the guilt of the brutal killing.

She was persuaded to hand herself in by a colleague who she told about the killing, confessing at Wallsend police station where she was arrested and charged with murder.

Det Chief Insp Bent was Northumbria Police’s on call senior investigating officer when Turnmore arrived and told cops that she had travelled to Scott's house with a man named "Ste" who owed her money.

Ste was believed to be a member of a violent gang called the Hendon Mad Dogs, and Scott owed money to Ste, so Turnmore went with him to get cash from Scott.

Det Chief Insp Bent told The Chronicle: "They stop and speak to [Scott]. He goes into his home address, comes out and says he’s got no money.

"[Turnmore] said she had ‘seen red’. She had taken a baseball bat and lays into him."

Cops were convinced that Turnmore's account was true by the chilling detail which she was able to provide, which would only be known to someone who was at the scene.

Police say that Scott did not know his killer and that they had only come into contact with one another because of the money that Scott owed Ste.

At the time of the killing, Scott was living at home with his mum Kathleen and his younger brother and sister, Brett and Melanie.

He was looking for work at the time of his murder and had visited the job centre on the day he was murdered.

Scott was found shortly after the attack and rushed to Sunderland Royal Hospital.

His head injuries were so severe that medics could not save him, and he was pronounced dead on arrival.