Doherty, who changed his name from Michael Moore in 2018, had a history of violence towards women who rejected him, with convictions for raping a stranger on her way home from a nightclub and torching a former partner’s car.
The court heard Courtney had moved into his house days before her death in July, but was not his partner and did not want a relationship.
Prosecutor Craig Hassall said Doherty made it clear he liked her, and texted her threatening to kill himself on the day of the murder.
Courtney told him in a message: “It’s not my fault Mikey, I don’t want a relationship, I told you this from the start, I haven’t led you on. I’ve been a good friend to you.”
Hassall said that during the evening of 25 July, the two were at the house they now shared.
He told the court the evidence was that “shortly before her death, Courtney had rejected the offender’s advances towards some sort of intimate relationship between the two of them”.
Doherty sexually attacked Courtney during the drug-fuelled assault, and cut off parts of her body, “callously” leaving them on his mantelpiece.
A pathologist found that the cause of her death was pressure on the neck, from strangling, coupled with head injuries from blunt force trauma.
After taking indecent images of Courtney on his phone, Doherty sent a message to a friend saying: “I’ve killed someone, ring me please.”
