Grandmother, 58, tried to poison daughter-in-law then stabbed her to death on the sofa because she thought she was going to lose contact with her grandson

Heather Emmonds knifed Tina Cas ey, 42, in Holywell, North Tyneside

She then burnt her clothes and went to play bingo with her husband



Had tried to poison Miss Casey so she became 'dependent' on her



Newcastle Crown Court heard police found hand-written notes confessing to the killing in her car



Victim: Tina Casey, 42, who was found dead at her home in February

A grandmother stabbed her daughter-in-law to death to stop her moving to another part of the country with her grandson, a court heard today.

Heather Emmonds, played bingo with her husband just hours after she allegedly knifed Tina Casey, 42, multiple times on her sofa at her home in Holywell, North Tyneside, in February.

The 58-year-old, who had already tried to posion Miss Casey, also set fire to the clothes she had been wearing in a Roses chocolates tin after the attack and had considered setting Miss Casey’s home alight with her body still inside.

But she decided against it because she was put off by a television programme, saying she had 'seen too many CSIs to know it doesn’t really work', Newcastle Crown Court heard.



Emmonds also admitted in interview she had put her hand Miss Casey’s mouth to stop her screaming during the 'frenzied' attack, Newcatsle Crown Court heard.



The following day the defendant was found collapsed in her Vauxhall Corsa after crashing on a roundabout having taken an overdose of sleeping pills.



Police found 10 hand-written letters in her car, confessing to killing her son Keith’s partner.



In one of the notes, Emmonds said: 'Please don’t hate me for what I have done. I really thought it was the best for you. I know it won’t look like it.

'But Dad is a great dad so be good for him and Gramps. I will always love you from, your loving grandmother.'

In another, she wrote to police: 'I didn’t intend to kill Tina Casey, it was a moment of madness and impulse.

'The knife and my clothes are in the boot of my car. The knife was mine but I lent it to Tina Casey. There was no preconceived plan. It just happened.

'I went on to autopilot, not eating or sleeping. I have never harmed anyone in my life. I am ashamed of my actions.'

Scene: Miss Casey's body was discovered with multiple stab wounds on her sofa in Holywell in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside

Alistair MacDonald, prosecuting, said: 'That was a very devious and cunning attempt to explain away how one of her knives had been used to kill Tina Casey.

'It demonstrates with complete clarity that this was far from an incident that blew up at the scene of the killing but Heather Emmonds went quite deliberately armed with a knife knowing full well what she was doing.'

Emmonds denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility and loss of control.

The prosecution said Miss Casey, who previously lived on the Isle of Man, planned to return there with the defendant’s young grandson, so Emmonds would lose touch with him.

Mr MacDonald said: 'The defendant could not face the prospect of the removal of her grandson to the Isle of Man and her inability to see him as she has been able to when he lived in the North East.”

Emmonds, of Blyth Street, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, attacked Ms Casey with a filleting knife after coming round to visit.

'Far from there being no intention to kill, that was precisely the intention,' Mr MacDonald said.

After leaving Miss Casey dead, face-down on the sofa, Emmonds tried to clean blood off the carpet, washed her knife in bleach and changed into a fresh set of clothes she had brought with her, the court was told.

She left after locking the doors and closing the curtains.

Trial: Defendant Heather Emmonds had denied murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but was found guilty of the crime by a jury

'Knowing full well that Tina was lying dead at her home, the defendant told a pack of lies,' Mr MacDonald added.

Emmonds told the officer Ms Casey had told her she planned to visit an aunt in Ponteland, Northumberland.

'All this was an elaborate charade designed to put the police off the scent,' the prosecution said.

In the previous week, Ms Casey had made a statement to police reporting she had been poisoned.

Emmonds made her a chilli on one night and a sweet and sour dish another night, both of which tasted strange.

The grandmother later confessed to police she had crushed up strong sleeping tablets in the food she had made to render Ms Casey ill, so she would come to rely on her.

'They had failed,' Mr MacDonald said. 'The knife attack did not.'

Mr MacDonald said Ms Casey once considered her a 'rock' for the help she offered, but the two had since fallen out.

Emmonds told police she took the same tablets she used to poison Ms Casey before she crashed her car.

Mr MacDonald said: 'It is an example of someone thinking things through perfectly logically.'

The trial continues.



