GUILTY UK - Lexi Draper, 3, & Scarlett Vaughan, 16 mos, murdered, Skiddaw, Rugby, Jan/Feb 2018 *GUILTY*

[Alyce]

Why would I kill my own kids?'
Mr Cooper asks Porton: “Did you expect to be arrested on the 20th March 2018?” She says no.

The court hears that at the time of her arrest Porton asked: “Why would I kill my own kids?”.

Mr Cooper asks if she was responsible for the deaths of either Lexi or Scarlett and she says no to both.


Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Alyce]

Court breaks for lunch
That concludes Mr Cooper’s questioning.

The court has now paused for lunch.

We will be back following the trial live when it resumes.




Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

Thanks so much Alyce.

She hasn't got a reasonable (or any) explanation for the incriminating things she did and said.

 

[Tortoise]

I'll post updates if you like Alyce. I've just noticed they are back.

 

[Tortoise]

14:13
Prosecution questioning
The jury are back in and the trial resumes.

Mr Oliver Saxby, prosecuting, will now question Porton.

14:22
Mum denies regularly leaving kids with landlady
He says he is going to start with Porton “as a parent”, looking at her lifestyle and how Lexi and Scarlett fitted in with it, as well as her attitude towards them.

Mr Saxby is referring to a period in which Mrs Bradley, Porton’s landlady for a year, used to look after Lexi and Scarlett.

Earlier Porton said Mrs Bradley looked after the children two or three times every two weeks. In earlier evidence Mrs Bradley said she looked after them more regularly, which Porton denies.

Asked if Mrs Bradley watched the children while Porton had photoshoots, Porton said she didn’t.

Porton says her and Mrs Bradley fell out in summer 2017.

14:22
Mum denies swearing at children
Mr Saxby says Mrs Bradley told the court that Porton told her children to “shut the up” and “I’ll give you something to cry for”.

Porton denies she said this to her children.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

14:28
False rape allegation
In 2011, the court hears that Porton made a false allegation of rape.

Mr Saxyby says: “That really is quite a thing to say of someone else, to allow the police to believe that that other person had raped you, a lie which you were willing to tell police.”

Mr Saxby asks if Porton told any lies to the police in relation to this incident and she says no.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

[my note - she would have been about 14 in 2011]

 

[Tortoise]

14:36
Sleeping tablet denial
Referring to the message Porton sent to her sister about sleeping tablets, Mr Saxby asks Porton if she ever thought of giving them something to get them off to sleep.

Porton says no.

14:40
Mum said she wanted to give children up
Mr Saxby refers to another message which alludes to Porton giving up her children.

He asks why she sent the message and she says she doesn’t remember.

Mr Saxby says: “It’s not something easily to slip the memory”.

He asks if she every thought about giving her children up and she says no.

Mr Saxby asks why she mentioned it in the text message and she says: “I can’t remember this far back”.

He asks Porton if her life would be easier without her children and she says no.

14:45
Mum can't remember how often she'd leave kids alone
Mr Saxby asks how often Porton would leave her children alone for 20 minutes and she says she doesn’t know.

He reads out a message from Karen which said: “Your kids have got to come first”.

Mr Saxby asks :”They weren’t coming first were they?”. Porton says no.


Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

14:53
Mum sent sexual images to buy food
Mr Saxby reads out a text exchange between Porton and a man named Jase in which Porton sends a sexual image in return for money to fund her shopping.

Porton says the money was for food shopping and clothes for her daughters.

Another exchange talks about Porton meeting a man for money. She says she would only meet someone if she could find someone to look after her children.

Asked whether she met any of these men in person she says no.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

15:01
Leaving children alone
In another exchange with Jase, Porton suggests she will leave her kids to meet him. A message from him reads: “What about the kids”.

Her reply is: “I’ll lock the door and the manager will keep a look out. They will be asleep until 7am.”

Mr Saxby asks Porton how long she was planning on leaving the children and Porton replies that she was not planning to leave her children.

Mr Saxby asks if her children were getting in the way of her lifestyle and she says they were not.

15:14
Bruises to head
Mr Saxby is taking the court through a series of minor injuries that Scarlett received before her death.

They include a pinpoint abrasion, yellow discolouration and marks to her neck.

Asked if she can help with how she came to receive any of these injuries, Porton says she is unable to help.

Referring to a mark on her daughter’s head, Mr Saxby asks: “Have you wondered what happened to her head? What conclusions did you reach?”

She replies: “I don’t know how those bruises have happened.”

15:19
Sexual images
Mr Saxby tells Porton: “You told us things were so hard you were driven to sending images of yourself and offering sexual favours. The impression we got was that you needed to do that to feed your children.”

He asks her: “You didn’t need to do that to feed the children, did you?”

Porton says: “Not sure”.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

15:29
Mum can't recall details
Speaking about Lexi’s visit to hospital on January 2, Mr Saxby asks why Porton can’t recall certain details about when she first noticed Lexi was unwell.

Porton says: “It’s just a bit of a blur. I just know she had the fit and then I called for help.”

Mr Saxby says Porton can’t say whether the lights were on or off at the time and can’t remember whether she was in her own bed or Porton’s bed.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

15:35
Prosecution: 'She didn't have a fit'
Mr Saxby asks if Lexi was still having the fit while Porton called for help and Porton says the fit had stopped.

He says: “So you’re watching for two to three minutes and then when she stopped you made the call?”

He asks if she was doing anything in that time and Porton says she didn’t know what to do and that she tried to sit Lexi up.

He says: “The impression you’ve given us is that straight away she was much better, is that right?”

He tells the court that expert evidence suggests she wouldn’t have been well so soon after a fit. He says there are two possibilities either she didn’t have a fit or she did but it was a while back.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

15:41
Repeated lies
Porton says she does not not why she told her sister she was waiting for a call back from 111 before her first attempt to contact them.

Referring to a message from her sister which asks “have they rung back?”, Mr Saxby says Porton repeats the same lie by saying she is waiting for a call back.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

15:58
Internet search about fits
Regarding an internet search Porton made about fits stopping toddlers breathing before she called the ambulance, Porton says she can’t remember why she made it.

16:04
Mix-up
Mr Saxby is now moving onto the night of January 4, when Porton says Lexi had her second fit.

Text messages from that night suggest Lexi was breathing in her own vomit.

Mr Saxby takes the court through her interviews in which he says Porton mixed up details of the night of January 4 and January 14.

“It’s either an innocent muddle with you just getting things mixed up or it’s something else.” Mr Saxby says.

“You’re just giving a jumble of a story because it isn’t the truth you’re telling us.”

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

16:23
Mum's mind not on Lexi, prosecutor says
While she was in hospital Porton sent a message to one man saying she needed funds to get by.

Mr Saxby suggests Porton’s mind was not on Lexi while she was in hospital.

Porton says Lexi was “asleep a lot of the time”.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

16:30
'Party weekend' plans
Speaking about after Lexi was discharged, Mr Saxby reads a message in which Porton said she would need a “party weekend” when she moved into her new flat.

He asks how she was expecting to do that when her daughter had been unwell.

Porton says it was something she wouldn’t have been able to do.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Tortoise]

16:40
Mum denies causing daughter's health problems
Mr Saxby reads another exchange in which Porton suggests she will leave the kids on their own.

“Why would you leave Lexi alone unless you knew you were the cause of it and nothing natural would happen to her?” he asks.

Porton says she did not do anything to cause her daughter to be unwell.

16:41KEY EVENT
End of today's hearing
That concludes today’s hearing..

Mr Saxby will continue to question Porton tomorrow.

Live: Murder-accused mum sent sexual photos while daughter was in hospital

 

[Alyce]

Would be interesting to know what her demeanour is like in court.

Certainly having a lot of forgetful moments

 

[Tortoise]

Would be interesting to know what her demeanour is like in court.

Certainly having a lot of forgetful moments

From here she sounds... not credible, and the fact she took the stand with those answers prepared...the opposite of endearing.

 

[bleuboy]

I'd love to see her demeanour too.She isn't making things better for herself is she? Why would she get up there and give some of these answers that make her look worse in my opinion.
thanks for all the updates. Xx

 

[Tortoise]

LIVE: Mum accused of killing her two daughters giving evidence

10:35KEY EVENT
Trial underway
The trial is now underway for the day and Porton is back in the witness box.

Mr Oliver Saxby. prosecuting, says that in previous evidence Porton’s sister Karen said she did not recall Lexi saying that her head hurt during the period January 8 to 15.

Porton tells the trial Lexi told her her head was hurting “a few times a day” towards January 15.

10:42
Mum denies leaving kids alone for 45 minutes
Mr Saxby says a security guard at the guesthouse previously told the court he saw Porton on CCTV leave her room for around 45 minutes before the ambulance arrived on January 4.

Porton tells the court she went to the toilet, and on the way back she was asked by an upstairs neighbour how to put music on their phone.

She says she was only gone for five minutes.

10:46
'Why would you leave her at all?'
Speaking about Porton leaving her children to go to the shops, which she previously told the court would have been for four or five minutes, Mr Saxby asks: “Why, if something happened to Lexi and it was scary and could have endangered her health, why would you leave her at all?”

Porton says she doesn’t know.

Mr Saxby says: ” You don’t have an answer that anyone would believe.”

Porton denies this.