© Tom Blewitt & Zack Griffiths – Predator Awareness

A woman who carried out a prolonged campaign of violent and sexual abuse against a teenage boy, including forcing a broken toilet brush up his anus , may be released from detention later this year.

Michaela Murch, from Bristol, was dealt with by the courts in 2018 after pleading guilty to multiple serious offences committed against a 15-year-old boy.

Rather than receiving a prison sentence, Murch was detained for treatment under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act and made subject to a hospital order.

She pleaded guilty to putting a person in fear of violence by harassment, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of assault by beating, abduction, and assault by penetration.

The court heard the victim was held against his will for approximately 36 hours and repeatedly assaulted. During that time he was stripped, beaten, kicked and strangled. Murch burned the boy’s leg with a lighter and stubbed cigarettes out on his feet. On one occasion, a plastic bag was placed over his head in an attempt to suffocate him.

The boy was taken to St Michael’s Hospital after suffering injuries. Prosecutors said the abuse continued inside the hospital.

Inside a disabled toilet cubicle, Murch and an accomplice forced the boy to remove his clothes. Murch picked up a toilet brush and struck the victim twice on the chest, causing the handle to snap.

She then picked up the broken handle and sexually assaulted the boy by inserting the toilet brush handle into his anus.

Afterwards, Murch and her accomplice forced the boy to leave the hospital. Outside, they made him remove his clothes and run naked through the street.

CCTV footage shown to the jury captured the distressed teenager running naked towards Broadmead while the two defendants followed behind him laughing.

At sentencing, the court described the victim as vulnerable and said the abuse was degrading, humiliating and brutal, causing serious physical injuries and lasting psychological harm.

Psychiatric reports led the court to impose a hospital order rather than a custodial sentence.

Now, nearly seven years later, a source has said that Murch has a realistic prospect of being released later this year following a review of her detention.

Any release would be subject to strict conditions and monitoring, though concerns remain due to the severity of the offences.