A mum and her friend allegedly fatally stabbed her boyfriend on New Year’s Eve after he confiscated their mobile phones, a court heard.
Hannah Sindrey, 24, and Kelly Blackwell, 26, are accused of attacking and killing Sindrey’s boyfriend Paul Fletcher, 31, at the start of this year at Sindrey’s New Year’s Eve party.
Fletcher was found unresponsive at around 1 am on January 1 at Sindrey’s home in Worcester Drive, Rayleigh, and died at the scene.
At the opening of Sindrey and Blackwell’s trial on Tuesday (November 30), Basildon Crown Court heard that Fletcher died from a stab wound to the chest, reports Essex Live.
The pair both deny murdering Fletcher.
The court heard that Sindrey’s father, her two children, Blackwell, her four children, Fletcher and his friend all attended the party.
At one point Fletcher, who had taken cocaine, mentioned that he believed Sindrey was cheating on him.
Christine Agnew QC, prosecuting, told the court that he had consequently taken both Sindrey and Blackwell’s phones, leading them to become enraged and confront him.
At around midnight, Agnew said a neighbour had seen Sindrey outside the flat with blood on her hands saying “he’s been stabbed” and telling them to call the emergency services.
She told the jury: “They both either intended to kill him or cause him really serious harm.
“At the time, Hannah Sindrey was Paul Fletcher’s girlfriend and Kelly Blackwell was a friend of Hannah’s.
“Both were slapping him and shouted at him and Kelly was waving a knife around enraged.
“[Fletcher’s friend] took the knife from her and left it in the kitchen.
“A short time later he saw both women attacking Mr Fletcher. Kelly was slapping him and at the time Hannah was holding the same knife making stabbing motions towards him.
“The knife did make contact with Mr Fletcher and he was stabbed with some force. He had a stab wound to the chest, through the heart.”
Both women deny being the person who inflicted the wound.
Agnew said that Sindrey’s father had left the flat earlier in the evening. Fletcher’s friend also had enough of the fight and left the flat after moving the “hysterical” children into a bedroom.
The man walked out of the block and told a man who was smoking outside to call the police, to which the man responded saying they had already been called.
Agnew said that Sindrey had been witnessed kneeling down next to where Fletcher lay in the flat, saying “wake up, we have got a baby on the way”.
She continued: “[Fletcher] was declared dead at 1:48 am. The police found Kelly Blackwell in the communal hallway, she was hysterical and quite drunk.
“She said ‘Hannah stabbed him, she is his girlfriend’.
“Hannah Sindrey was in the flat was hysterical, kicking out and thrashing throughout the time officers were in the flat.
“It was obvious that someone or some people had killed Paul Fletcher.”
The trial continues.