Woman jailed over picture that led to love rival murder
AWOMAN at the centre of a love triangle which ended in murder has been jailed after she sent the jealous killer a photo of her performing a sex act on the man he went on to stab to death that night.
Sarah Bramley, 29, revelled in the drama of having violent David Saunders and Michael Lawson vying for her attention at a time when she had “lost her moral compass”, her barrister told Teesside Crown Court.
The pregnant mother-of-two was jailed for four months after she admitted encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.
The guilty plea was on the basis that she thought Saunders would assault Mr Lawson.
But in the early hours of July 1 last year, shortly after receiving the photo, Saunders stabbed father-ofone Mr Lawson through the heart after Bramley had turfed him out of her Darlington home.
In December, Saunders was jailed for life at Teesside Crown Court with a minimum term of 22-and-a-half years, after he admitted murder.
Nick Dry, prosecuting, said: “It was never the Crown’s case that Bramley had intended or encouraged that tragic outcome, rather that messages had contributed to the chain of events which ultimately led him to do as he did.”
It was the culmination of a “love rivalry” with Bramley in the middle, the court heard.
Mr Dry said: “She was involved in an on-off relationship with both men over a period of months.”
She continued to see Saunders despite her gaining a non-molestation order against him, and knowing he was capable of violence.
Mr Dry said: “Their text messages revealed a love-hate relationship involving sexually explicit messages of love mixed with highly offensive personal abuse. Bramley declared her love to Saunders and then revealed she had recently slept with Mr Lawson. She appeared to revel in the drama and attention of the situation.”
Both Bramley and Saunders were drinking as they exchanged unpleasant texts that night and into the early hours, and Saunders threatened to go round to attack Mr Lawson.
The argument continued and he sent a female friend of Bramley – who was with her at the time – a video of him and his ex having sex.
Bramley responded by sending him a photo of her performing oral sex on Mr Lawson taken that night, causing Saunders to become enraged and he got a taxi close to her home.
He arrived a short time after Bramley had got Mr Lawson out of her house and he was stabbed following a short chase.
Bramley had sent a text at around 3.30am telling Saunders his rival was outside and “feel free to smack the **** ”.