A house where two teenage girls allegedly beat a woman to death was like a “bombsite” spattered with blood and strewn with murder weapons when paramedics arrived, a jury has been told.
Angela Wrightson pleaded for her life and was “forcibly restrained” during the ferocious beating using a number of weapons, the court heard.
The girls, who were aged 13 and 14 at the time, used a number of items including a wooden stick studded with screws, a coffee table, a kettle and a television in the attack, it was said. Wrightson’s body was found with more than 100 injuries.
Nicholas Campbell QC, representing the prosecution, told the court the first paramedic to arrive, Susan Appleyard, would tell the jury that she and a colleague described the scene as “akin to a bombsite … Blood and broken furnishings could be seen all over the room.”
Experts would confirm that a number of weapons were used in the prolonged attack and one was swung overhead as blood was found on the ceiling, Campbell said.
Both defendants deny murder, with the older girl admitting manslaughter and her co-accused saying she did not encourage or take part in the violence.
Wrightson was murdered at her home in Stephen Street near the centre of Hartlepool, County Durham, in an attack that could have begun as early as 7.30pm on 8 December 2014 and could have ended as late as 2.56am the following morning.
Wrightson’s body was found the following morning by her landlord John Meggison. She was slouched on her sofa in darkness and had a severely bloodied face, Campbell said.
Forensic scientists told the jury “blows had been struck” in 12 separate areas in the living room during the sustained assault, which could have lasted up to eight hours.
The jury heard that experts also believed the printer and television were thrown at the victim. Examination of Wrightson’s hands and arms showed evidence that she had tried to deflect blows, Campbell added, and that she had been “forcibly restrained” at times.
Pathologist Dr Mark Egan weighed Wrightson’s body and found she was six and a half stone. He reported there were 80 injuries to her head alone. He concluded that the victim most likely died from those injuries.
After the “brutal assault” the girls “heaped indignities” on Wrightson by stripping her half-naked, the jury was told. They left her house laughing, the court heard, using the police as a taxi service to take them back to the homes where they were staying in local authority care.
The court previously heard that the girls had gone missing on the night of the murder and had posted mocking photographs on Snapchat as they were driven away. It is alleged the younger girl took a picture of her friend in the back of the police van and posted it on the social media app with the caption: “Me and (friend’s name) in the back on the bizzie van again.”
Leeds crown court was told the girls also stopped during the beating and took a selfie with Wrightson in the frame.
The defence would argue that the older girl is not guilty of murder as she has “an abnormality of her mental function”, Campbell said.
Psychiatrists for the prosecution and defence would give evidence, the trial was told. Both agreed that at the time of the killing the girl had an abnormality, but differed over its severity. Campbell said that when she was arrested the older girl said: “What the fuck? I don’t understand.”
The court heard that in a police interview the older girl admitted being at Wrightson’s house. She told detectives that the woman’s face was already bloodied and she was mumbling about someone called Julie. The girl allegedly said Wrightson was “OK” when they left her.
The other defendant was tearful when she was arrested and asked if her friend had been “locked up as well”, the jury was told. She told the police station custody officer: “I will admit I was in the vicinity. I didn’t murder her, I just sat there.”
The younger girl is said to have told police that Wrightson had two black eyes when they arrived at the property and that they drank cider together. There was a disagreement and Wrightson told them to “fuck off”, she allegedly told detectives.
The other girl then picked up the table and used it “to whack Angela over the head”, the younger defendant told police. She said she told her friend to “behave” but the argument continued and the other girl kicked Wrightson in the face, the court heard.
In her interview, she said Wrightson armed herself with a knife, so she intervened before her friend pushed the victim to the floor. While Wrightson lay on the floor the younger girl said she tried to pick her up, which explained how she had got blood on her clothes.
She said her friend broke a mirror from the mantelpiece and then smashed up the rest of the room. They then “got bored” and went for a walk and when they returned Wrightson swore at them, which angered her friend again, the younger girl said.
She told police that her friend used a table to hit Wrightson over the head. As they left, the girl claimed, Wrightson was still telling them to “fuck off”.
“The prosecution case is that both the defendants were in this together.” Campbell said. H“[The girls] arrived at Wrightson’s home together. They remained there together for over five hours, during which the protracted violence on Wrightson was inflicted.
“They even took time out – three hours of it – when, in their bloodstained clothing, they visited [a friend]. They then returned to Wrightson’s, remaining for two hours before leaving her body in that undignified manner and calling for the police to take them home.”
Resource: http://www.theguardian.com
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