A ‘narcissist’ who stabbed the mother of his children to death in the street was driven away from the scene by his older married lover, a court has heard.

Torbjorn Kettlewell, 30, knifed Kelly Franklin, 29, more than 30 times before jumping into Julie Wass’s car and fleeing to the woods in Trimdon, County Durham, jurors were told.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant was ‘obsessed with sex’ and had tried to get both women together in a threesome.

Torbjorn Kettlewell, 30, was described as being ‘utterly self-centered’ (Picture: Cleveland Police)

Ms Franklin and Kettlewell, who have three children, had dated since they were teenagers and her family had grown increasingly worried about the relationship, prosecutor Jamie Hill QC said.




He told the court that social services got involved and there were ‘particular concerns about Mr Kettlewell’s coercive and psychologically abusive behaviour towards Kelly’.

Jurors heard how the children were taken into care after he accidentally shot one of them in the face with a high-powered air rifle and Ms Franklin tried to cover for him.

Which industries could miss out on Rishi Sunak's plan to support 'viable jobs'?

The couple then split in 2017 and she was helped by a domestic abuse charity and took parenting classes to win them back, the court were told.

Mr Hill said it was then that Kettlewell bombarded her with Facebook messages, threatening her and obsessing that she had a new partner.

‘The whole picture is of someone who is utterly self-centred and indeed narcissistic,’ he said.

He continued: ‘He spent his life surrounded by expensive computer equipment, drinking, gaming, and perhaps more concerningly trying to draw Kelly into his sexual fantasies involving other women.’

Kelly Franklin, 29, had been attending parenting classes to try and win back custody of her children (Picture: PA)

But despite his obsession with Ms Franklin moving on, Mr Hill told the court that Kettlewell, who changed his name from Ian to Torbjorn after a video game character, had other relationships himself, including one with married mother-of-four Wass, 48.

‘He was hoping to draw her into his sexual fantasies and involve her with Kelly as well,’ Mr Hill said.

He added: ‘It is also apparent that Julie Wass immersed herself in the relationship with Mr Kettlewell and Kelly Franklin, not just by sleeping with him, she seems to have been completely in his thrall.’

Care home resident, 104, says visiting restrictions make her feel like she's in 'prison'

The court heard that at around 9pm on August 3, Kettlewell searched for and ‘brutally’ attacked Ms Franklin on Oxford Road, Hartlepool, with a kitchen knife he took from his flat.

Terrified members of the public witnessed the stabbing, in which Ms Franklin suffered broken ribs, severed arteries and a pierced heart and lungs, Mr Hill said.

‘She rapidly collapsed and died from a catastrophic loss of blood. It would have been impossible to save her,’ he told the court.

‘No one watching could have been in any doubt that Kettlewell was intent on killing her.’

Wass had driven Kettlewell to the scene and then sped him away, taking him to the woods where he could hide and destroy his phone, the court heard.



One witness said she had been revving the engine before she drove off, another heard a horn and a third heard him shout ‘get me out of here’.

Kettlewell is accused of fleeing the scene with Julie Wass, 48 (Picture: Evening Gazette)

‘We say this is a classic and terrible case of a defendant who decided “if I cannot have her then nobody else will”,’ Mr Hill said.

Wass, described as Kettlewell’s ‘close friend and sometime lover’, later went back to the murder scene and tearfully told police she had witnessed Ms Franklin’s death.

She identified herself as the victim’s neighbour and warned that Kettlewell could be going to harm a social worker involved in the custody case.

Poppy Appeal at risk as vulnerable sellers unable to fundraise due to coronavirus

A video, filmed on the officer’s body-worn camera, caught Wass saying: ‘He has always sworn down if he ever killed Kelly he would go for the social worker.’

Mr Hill said she failed to mention that she had been with Kettlewell through much of the day or that she had driven him to his hiding place.

He told the court she had been married for 30 years, but intended to go to Canada with Kettlewell, who was found a day after the murder hiding at the house of another girlfriend, Corinne Hunter, who reported him to police.

Wass, of Kipling Road, Hartlepool, has admitted assisting an offender.

She and Kettlewell, of The Oval, Hartlepool, both deny murder. The trial continues.

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.