Turner held Kiwi’s neck ‘to stop her going nuts’
‘‘She was kneeling on my bed and from that position I pushed her down on to the bed and she went backwards. She was flat on her back and I then pressed down on her neck.’’
The man accused of murdering aspiring New Zealand model Emily Longley told an English court he held her neck for ‘‘five or six seconds’’ during a violent argument before she died.
Elliot Turner, 20, confessed to grabbing 17-year-old Longley ‘‘quite hard’’ round the neck and pushing her on to his bed before pressing down above her collarbone with his right hand.
He said he then stormed out of the room at his parents’ home in Bournemouth before writing a letter to his mother and putting it under her door asking her forgiveness, The Mirror reported.
In the letter, he said how ashamed he was and that he was leaving for Spain.
The prosecution claims he strangled Longley in his bedroom at the Turner family home on May 7 last year.
Turner is also accused, together with his parents Leigh Turner, 54, and Anita Turner, 51, of perverting the course of justice. All three deny the charges.
Turner told jurors at Winchester Crown Court that he went to sleep beside his girlfriend but, when he woke the following morning and touched her cheek, ‘‘she was just so cold’’.
He said the couple had got into a fight in his room.
Turner said Longley punched him in the face and, after he responded by pushing his right forearm into her neck, she kicked him in the face and stomach.
He said: ‘‘I pushed her back using my forearm and it landed above her collar bone. It was quite hard.
‘‘That caused her to fall backwards on the bed and she started screaming and hitting me with flailing fists.
‘‘At that point I grabbed Emily with my right hand by her neck.
‘‘I wouldn’t say it was very hard but it was quite hard.
‘‘I was applying slight pressure and the purpose was to restrain her and calm her down.
‘‘She was kneeling on my bed and from that position I pushed her down on to the bed and she went backwards.
‘‘She was flat on her back and I then pressed down on her neck.
‘‘All together I held her neck for about five or six seconds at most.
‘‘I didn’t intend to harm her or cause her serious injury.’’
When Anthony Donne, QC, asked him if he intended to kill Longley, Turner answered in a whisper: ‘‘No.’’ He had thought Longley had gone to sleep.
Turner admitted he had threatened the aspiring model and felt ‘‘upset and deceived’’ on the night before she died after seeing untrue emails on her phone saying he had smashed her face into a table, the BBC reported.
Giving evidence about the argument, he said he tried to calm Longley down before giving up and throwing a £20 note for a taxi at her.
He said: ‘‘She just ignored me at first. Then five seconds later she just went crazy.
‘‘I had never seen Emily get to that point of rage. I didn’t know what to do. She would not stop. I kept repeating myself, ‘stop it, calm down’.
‘‘At that point I grabbed her by the neck using my right hand.’’
Mr Donne asked: ‘‘ Why did you do that?’’
Turner replied: ‘‘ To stop her going nuts. I did not know what to do. My right hand made contact with her neck.’’
The trial continues.