THE parents of a man who murdered his fiancee after a week-long binge on amphetamine and cocaine told last night how drugs turned their son into a killer.

Electrician Anthony Hilton was jailed for life yesterday at Teesside Crown Court after admitting repeatedly stabbing Nicola Gina Impett, 27, in an unprovoked attack as she lay in bed.

And last night the killer's parents warned: "This could happen to any family."

Hilton, 31, who had used amphetamine and cocaine for more than ten years, murdered Miss Impett at her parents' home in Winchester Way, Darlington, on August 16 last year.

Hilton's parents, Keith and Diane Hilton, had previously warned Miss Impett - known as Nikki - about his drugs problem.

Hilton's father, Keith, also an electrician who had worked alongside his son at The Northern Echo offices in Darlington, said he and his wife had fought to rid their son of a drug habit.

Keith said: "Nikki was a lovely girl and we took to her straight away. We were very, very fond of her. Anthony seemed to get his act together after he met her.

"If we had known he was taking drugs again, we would have rung the police, we were so desperate to get him to stop. We had tried all the other options to get him off.

"This could happen to anyone, any family. Anthony was a normal young lad before he got into drugs, and was never violent. Off drugs he was a placid, affectionate lad.

"On drugs he became paranoid, would hallucinate and was scared.

"We don't want other families to find themselves in this terrible position.

"They might think they are only dabbling with drugs, but all drugs are dangerous and can lead to tragic events and lives being ruined."

James Goss, prosecuting, said the couple had rowed about drugs but were very much in love and Miss Impett was determined to make the year-old relationship work.

In the week she died, Miss Impett tried to get Hilton a doctor's appointment for help with his drug problem and told a colleague she was leaving him until he got help.

Mr Goss said: "The defendant was on something of a drugs binge that week and didn't go to work at The Northern Echo offices."

Miss Impett's father, Mike, was working in Wales and her mother, Gina, was to join him there on August 16 while Nikki, a call centre worker, looked after the family's dogs.

Mr Goss said that on August 15, while Nikki was at work, Hilton - who was on a final warning from work for repeated absenteeism -went to Morrisons supermarket in North Road. He bought a knife which he later used in the attack.

The following day, he said, Nikki told a friend that Hilton had agreed to see a doctor, although he had bought £10 of amphetamine.

The couple spent the evening at the Impett family home.

Mr Goss said: "That night, after she had gone to bed, the defendant, whilst naked, launched an unexplained, sudden and violent attack on Nicola with a knife or knives.

"She may have been asleep when the attack commenced."

At 5.50am on August 17, Hilton arrived at The Northern Echo offices and told colleague David Forster his girlfriend might be dead. The police were called and officers later found the body.

Hilton admitted to police he had killed Nikki, saying it was as a result of a seven-day drink and drugs bender and he had not slept. He claimed he was sorry for what he had done.

The court heard Hilton had a previous conviction for an attack on the mother of his two children, Lyndsey Darrah, in 1997. He stabbed her in the arm and back when she was asleep in bed and he served nine months of an 18-month prison sentence.

Aidan Marron, for Hilton, said the father-of-two was well brought up by a respectable, loving and caring family who had battled to rid him of his drug problem.

His family had found him stashing knives and screwdrivers in his room because of his drug-induced paranoia.

Hilton, he said, was full of remorse and added: "Drugs had a profound and devastating effect on him and were a pivotal cause of what happened here."

Judge Peter Fox said: "This was a tragedy which results from a combination of your consumption of drink and drugs." It was a "terrible killing of a vulnerable young woman who loved you".

The judge added: "She died a shocking and fearful death at your hands."