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A young woman was 'stabbed to death' by her transgender flatmate and her boyfriend for their "perverse pleasure", a court heard today.

It's claimed Jack Williams, 21, and Kayleigh Woods, 23, then tried to make it look like 20-year-old Bethany Hill had committed suicide.

The pair are on trial accused of binding their victim's wrists with duct tape before slashing her throat for a "sadistic" thrill in the bathroom of their flat.

Warwick Crown Court heard Miss Hill had agreed to have a baby with transgender Woods.

But then Woods dumped her to start a relationship with the victim's ex-boyfriend.

The three of them all lived together in the flat - where and there was a toxic atmosphere fuelled by alcohol and personal problems, it was claimed in court.

The jury were told that Woods dialled 999 on the night of the killing and the first thing she told the operator was: "Well, I think my best friend's dead in my flat."

Miss Hill was found dead at the apartment in Hertford Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, at around 7pm on February 3 last year.

Officers found her on the bathroom floor "drenched" in blood - with blood all over the bathtub.

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Williams and Woods were arrested and taken to Stratford Police Station for questioning.

The court heard Woods asked to go to the toilet at the station and threw Miss Hill's phone in a bin which was then retrieved by officers.

Woods - who was born Kyle Lockwood - told officers Miss Hill had "always been suicidal and taken tablets" adding: "At three o'clock this morning she drank bleach".

The defendants - both of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire - appeared side-by-side in the glass-panelled court dock flanked by two security guards.

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Dad-of-one Williams - wearing a white 'Jack Wills' jumper and grey jogging bottoms - sat with his arms folded and showed no emotion as he listened to the evidence.

Woods - dressed in a dark red jacket and black leggings - sat staring into space throughout the hearing.

Opening the prosecution's case, Stephen Linehan QC said: "At 7.07pm on February 3 last year, Kayleigh Woods dialled 999 and spoke to the emergency operator.

"She broke off the call before the operator had finished speaking but the first thing she said was: 'Well, I think my best friend's dead in my flat.'

"She claimed her friend had killed herself while she was out of the flat and that she had returned to find blood everywhere and she had cleaned up the flat before making the telephone call.

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"All those things were lies. Bethany Hill had not died as a result of cutting herself. She had been brutally, brutally murdered. Woods lied because she took part in the killing with Jack Williams.

"This was a sadistic kill and the murder wasn't done quickly. In the course of the killings Beth's wrists were bound together with duct tape.

"A blade was used to inflict repeated cuts across the back of her neck before she was killed by her jugular vein being cut through. She bled to death in the bathroom.

"They did it in order to gain a perverted pleasure and Kayleigh Woods joined in with her lover to please him.

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"Only they will ever know the full truth behind what happened because they will not admit to what they did. They have spun a web of lies to avoid the consequences.

"But the evidence you will hear will lead you to conclude that they took part in the killing together.

"From the moment they murdered her they set about trying to cover up the death.

"Kayleigh Woods appeared distressed when she called 999 but she was play acting. She's a prolific and practiced liar.

"Beth had a brief relationship with Williams as a teenager but it was only brief. Woods may have met Williams through Beth at Stamford College and they started a relationship.

"They all lived together in the ground floor one-bedroom flat in Hertford Road.

"Beth dropped out of college and out of employment in January 2015 and went home to live with her parents.

"At this time she was a distressed young woman. She had been cutting herself but the cuts never required hospital treatment.

"One thing common to all three of these people is they were absorbed by problems in their personal lives.

"In October 2015, Woods telephoned the police and claimed Williams had threatened her with a knife. He was arrested and charged and later convicted.

"A condition of his probation was he was not to go to Woods' flat and he went to live with his father.

"Beth went to live with Kayleigh Woods in December 2015. The relationship between them was not a simple one. It appears to have been complicated and volatile.

"They were planning they would have a child and they indulged in heavy drinking and agonised over how difficult their lives were.

"Woods' feelings for Beth see-sawed between fondness and hatred.

"In January 2016 Kayleigh Woods and Jack Williams got back together and he moved into the flat. He slept with Woods in the living room and Beth slept in the bedroom.

"However, Williams did not tell his family he was living there because of the court order and said he was sofa surfing."

Both defendants deny murder.

The trial - expected to last four weeks - continues.