‘Boyfriend stabbed mum to death then went back to pub’
AMUM OF TWO was stabbed to death by her angry boyfriend, who stole her purse then returned to the pub “in good spirits” following the killing, a court heard.
Terrie-Ann Jones, who was found dead in a pool of blood in her own home, had suffered 26 wounds inflicted by a kitchen knife, including stab wounds to her heart, lung, and neck.
Police found TerrieAnn Jones in her bloodsplattered kitchen following a 999 phone call from her partner in which he told officers he had stabbed her after she attacked him, a jury was told.
John Paul Lewis denies murdering Miss Jones, claiming he was acting in self-defence.
The opening of Lewis’ trial at Swansea Crown Court yesterday heard the body of 33-year-old Miss Jones was found at a property in Talbot Road, Cimla, Neath, on January 5 this year.
She was lying on the floor of the kitchen in a pool of blood and there were bloodstains and splatters on the cupboards, work surfaces, doors, and furniture.
A kitchen knife, covered in blood and with a bent blade, was found next to the sink. Police also found Miss Jones’ bloody handbag – inside which was an open purse which also had blood on it.
Michael Jones QC, prosecuting, said it was the Crown’s case that 56-year-old Lewis “brutally murdered her by stabbing her repeatedly with a kitchen knife” – then stole money from her purse, locked the door of the house and dropped the key down the drain before going to the pub.
Mr Jones said a forensic examination had shown the victim suffered 26 separate “sharp-force injuries” including 13 stab wounds to the neck, three to the collarbone area, and two to the chest or breast – one of which pierced her heart, with the other injuring her lung. Four of the injuries to the neck were deep wounds, cutting a jugular vein and carotid artery.
The prosecutor said she also had injuries to both hands consistent with “defence-type” wounds.
Opening the case, Mr Jones said the victim was a mum of two who worked at the Castle Hotel in Neath.
He said she met Lewis in the spring of 2017 – though he introduced himself as Paul Burgess.
The court heard the relationship became “marred” with arguments, particularly after Lewis had been drinking.
Mr Jones said Lewis was abusive, threatening and violent to Miss Jones, on one occasion trying to strangle her and on another hiding in her house and then threatening her with a knife.
The barrister said the prosecution contends the incidents “give an insight into the temperament of the defendant when he is angry or feels aggrieved”.
In October Miss Jones found out she was pregnant by Lewis and decided to have a termination. The relationship between the pair continued to deteriorate and by the end of 2017 the prosecutor said Miss Jones had met someone new and had decided to end the relationship.
On January 3, 2018, the pair argued again, and Lewis stole Miss Jones’ phone and left her house.
The court heard that on the day Miss Jones was killed, at around 10am, Lewis went to Schooners pub near his home in Briton Ferry, where he drank with friends. At around 2.45pm, after drinking four or five cans of alcohol, he asked a friend for a lift to Miss Jones’s house, saying he wanted to pick up some personal items.
At 5pm her returned to the pub “in apparent good spirits” – and wearing different clothes.
Lewis, of Church Street, Briton Ferry, denies murder and his trial continues.