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

[Tortoise]

10:50
Mum drinking after daughter discharged from hospital
Mr Saxby reads out a text message from January 13 - two days after Lexi had been discharged from hospital and two days before she died - in which Porton tells someone she “got pissed last night”.

He asks whether this is true and Porton says she can’t be sure.

Mr Saxby says: “You are not saying don’t be ridiculous, I wouldn’t have got drunk two days after Lexi had been discharged [from hospital], are you?” She replies: “No.”

Porton said if she had been drinking that night she doesn’t believe she would have got that drunk.

10:52
Daughter quieter than usual
Mr Saxby moves onto January 14 when Porton and her children went for lunch at the Brewers Fayre.

Porton says she can’t remember much from the trip. but tells the court Lexi probably ate some chips.

Of Lexi’s behaviour that evening, Porton says: “She was more quiet than usual and complained that her head was hurting, but she was still running around.”

10:56
Conflicting statements
In police interviews, Porton said Lexi wasn’t eating much after she was discharged from hospital, and that she wasn’t playing as much as usual and interacting with her cousins.

Mr Saxby says her sister Karen said Lexi seemed fine after her hospital stay when she previously gave evidence.

10:58
'Fascination with death'
Mr Saxby reads a text message sent to Mark in which Porton said she was having a tough time and that Lexi had a “deadly flu”.

He asks: “Were you preparing the ground for something you did later that evening? Letting people think she was quite likely to die so they weren’t surprised when she did?”

Porton denies this and says she was “just overreacting”.

Asking about internet searches Porton made about people dying, Mr Saxby asks if she had a “fascination with death”. Porton says no.

LIVE: Mum accused of killing her two daughters giving evidence

 

[Tortoise]

11:02
'I didn’t do anything to Lexi'
Mr Saxby recalls evidence from a paramedic which said Lexi had been dead “for some time” on the night of January 15.

He says Porton “did something” to Lexi around the time she was making internet searches about death and resuscitation that caused her death.

He says that would fit in with her being dead for some time when paramedics arrived.

“I didn’t do anything to Lexi,” Porton tells the court.

LIVE: Mum accused of killing her two daughters giving evidence

 

[Tortoise]

11:10
Emergency call
Mr Saxby is now discussing the call Porton made for help on the night Lexi died.

Porton says she told them Lexi wasn’t breathing and says they asked her to move her into a different room and put her on a hard surface.

He reads from the call transcript which states Porton told paramedics she had moved Lexi from her bed to Porton’s own bed.

Porton tells the court she couldn’t remember whether paramedics asked her to do so or she did so off her own back.

11:13
Marks around Lexi's nose
Mr Saxby tells the court that Lexi had marks around her nose.

The transcript states that paramedics asked Porton to pinch her nose when performing CPR.

Mr Saxby asks if she did this “firmly” and Porton tells the court she would have followed the instructions from the paramedics.

Mr Saxby says a doctor previously told the court there would have needed to be some movement to cause the marks.

Porton tells the court she didn’t really know what she was doing with CPR but tried to follow the instructions as best she could.

11:15
Blotches on cheeks
Referring to an injury Lexi received before her death - blotches to the cheeks - Mr Saxby asks if Porton can tell the court anything about it.

She says she doesn’t know.

Mr Saxby says it could be linked to having her airways obstructed and Porton replies: “She never had her airway obstructed”.

11:16
Mum 'doesn't know' how scratches got on daughter's neck
Another injury Lexi had was scratches to her neck.

Mr Saxby asks Porton about a habit she said Lexi had of scratching her own neck, which she says stopped at around the age of two.

“If it wasn’t Lexi, who else had access to that part of her body?” he asks.

Porton replies that she was always playing with her sister and cousins.

He asks if something happened at the Brewers Fayre which would have caused Lexi to have scratches to her neck.

Porton says she does not know how Lexi came to get that injury.

11:21
Short break
Mr Saxby tells the court in police interviews Porton said she was unable to confirm whether or not images on CCTV showed her group at Brewers Fayre.

He asks why and Porton says she was advised by her solicitor not to comment.

The jury are now taking a short break and evidence will resume at 11.30am.

LIVE: Murder-accused mum had 'fascination with death', court hears

 

[Tortoise]

11:41
'I do have emotion I just don’t show it'
Asking about Porton’s lack of emotion, Mr Saxby asks whether she feels emotion or if she just doesn’t show it.

She tells the court: “I do have emotion I just don’t show it.”

She also tells the court: “I wouldn’t cry in public.”

11:51
Mum accused of meeting men in days after daughter's death
Mr Saxby reads a message from her sister Karen to Porton on January 17 which says Porton is coming across as “emotionless” and “heartless” following Lexi’s death.

Porton’s reply to Karen is that it was “just a front”.

Another text from Karen accuses Porton of considering meeting up with men in the days after Lexi’s death.

Karen also tells Porton to “put Scarlett first”.

LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Tortoise]

12:01
Mum says she looked after Scarlett
Mr Saxby discusses an incident in the days following Lexi’s death in which Porton spent time with a man at her sister’s home while Scarlett was also in the house.

Mr Saxby accuses Porton of not looking after Scarlett while she was there.

Porton denies this and says she gave Scarlett milk when she was crying.

12:02
'Casual' reference to daughter's death
A text message sent by Porton says: “I had two, now down to one” - referring to her children.

Mr Saxby says this is “quite a casual way of putting it”.


LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Tortoise]

She is an empty box, imo.

 

[Tortoise]

12:07
Scarlett's symptoms
In previous evidence, Porton’s sister Karen told the court she “didn’t notice [Scarlett] being tired before she went to sleep” on the night she died.

Porton tells the court Scarlett had a runny nose on that day.

“That doesn’t seem to have been something Karen noticed,” Mr Saxby says.

He asks if there are any other symptoms Porton can tell the court, and she says no.

LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Alyce]

Her defence, or lack of, is quite astonishing. I wonder how much her barrister went through with her in advance ?

 

[Tortoise]

12:19
More symptoms
Mr Saxby reads from a transcript in which a paramedic states Porton told them Scarlett had not been eating much in the days before her death.

He tells Porton that the not eating much seems to have “slipped her mind” while giving evidence.

He also brings up a cough that Porton previously told the court Scarlett had.

12:19
Exaggeration claims
Speaking about Porton’s version of the events of the night Scarlett died, Mr Saxby says: “I’m going to suggest you exaggerated the extent to which Scarlett struggled to walk”.

Porton says she couldn’t remember at the time.

12:21
Mum: Blood could have been from teething
Mr Saxby says he is now turning towards the medical findings. He tells the court that there was signs of previous bleeding in Scarlett’s lungs. He says one possible reason is an obstructed airway.

He asks how blood appeared on Scarlett’s pillow and Porton says she doesn’t know.

Mr Saxby asks: “Did she have any bleeding injury that you were aware of?” Porton says “No, apart from teething”.

Porton tells the court she can’t be sure if her mouth was bleeding due to teething as she didn’t look in Scarlett’s mouth.

12:28
Mum denies causing injuries
He now turns to some bruising found in Scarlett’s neck muscles.

Porton says she does not know how Scarlett got these injuries.

Mr Saxby asks: “It could only have been you couldn’t it?” and Porton replied “I didn’t touch Scarlett’s neck”.

She also denies knowing what caused bruising to Scarlett’s head.

LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Tortoise]

12:34
Low temperature
Mr Saxby says Scarlett was dead before Porton called the emergency services. Porton says she was not.

He tells the court that Scarlett’s temperature was taken at the hospital and it was very low.

He says this suggests she had been dead for quite some time.

12:36
Similarities between deaths
Mr Saxby says there are a number of similarities between Lexi and Scarlett’s deaths.

He says they both died in Porton’s care, while she says they were sleeping at night.

LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Tortoise]

12:40
Journey to hospital
Mr Saxby moves on to speak about the route Porton took to the hospital on the night Scarlett died.

Porton stopped at a petrol station on the way, and says she sent a text message to her sister Karen to let her know she was taking Scarlett to hospital.

Porton then stopped at Cafe Nero to call the hospital.

Mr Saxby asks why Porton didn’t call ahead from the hotel before they left. She said she didn’t think to call in the hotel.

LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Tortoise]

12:48
Scarlett 'falling over'
Referring to a conversation Porton had about Scarlett’s behaviour before she was taken to hospital, Mr Saxby asks why she said Scarlett was falling over when CCTV outside the hotel showed her walking normally.

Porton says she was referring to Scarlett’s behaviour inside her hotel room.

Mr Saxby asks: “When did she fall over in the hotel room?”

Porton replies: “I don’t know”

Mr Saxby says: “You just can’t answer can you because there is no answer. What you were saying simply wasn’t true.”

LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Tortoise]

Her defence, or lack of, is quite astonishing. I wonder how much her barrister went through with her in advance ?

There's only so much you can do with a stone.

I've been trying to work out why she gave evidence, since she isn't exactly convincing or someone who likes to spin much of a yarn. I think it's similar to her not giving up her children for adoption, because I think she was worried people would think badly of her for not wanting them. She gave evidence because she thought people will think she's got to be guilty if she doesn't, imo.

 

[Tortoise]

13:00
No comment police interviews
Mr Saxby now moves on to interviews with police Porton gave in January of this year.

Porton says she followed the advice of her solicitor in giving an answer of no comment to their questions.

“Did you want to help police with an explanation of what happened,” he asks.

“Yes,” Porton replies.

13:03
'Embarrassing'
Mr Saxby says Porton stated: “I wouldn’t message anybody outside my family about my kids” in one interview.

Mr Saxby states that that is a lie. “You were trying to hide your lifestyle with that lie,” he says.

He asks if this is the case and she says yes, giving the reason for this she says “It’s just embarrassing”.

That concludes Porton’s evidence.

13:08KEY EVENT
Court over for day
The jury is now being told that the evidence has ended.

They are told that the judge will give them legal directions, before they hear summing up statements from both the prosecution and defence.

That will be tomorrow morning when the case will resume.

LIVE: Murder-accused mum denies 'fascination with death'

 

[Alyce]

Just been reading back through our limited coverage of the trial.

Do we know if there were any other defence witnesses apart from Louise Porton ?

 

[dalsglen]

There's only so much you can do with a stone.

I've been trying to work out why she gave evidence, since she isn't exactly convincing or someone who likes to spin much of a yarn. I think it's similar to her not giving up her children for adoption, because I think she was worried people would think badly of her for not wanting them. She gave evidence because she thought people will think she's got to be guilty if she doesn't, imo.

She's not remotely endearing is she.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

She's not remotely endearing is she.

She can be, for the right price

 

[Legally Bland]

I was reading on the fly today and just got chance to read through properly. I've put this in spoilers so people can skip past if they want.

Spoiler: 'Don't knows' and 'can't remembers'

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 asks how often Porton would leave her children alone for 20 minutes and she says she doesn’t know.

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.”

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

Porton says: “Not sure”.

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.

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.

Mr Saxby moves onto January 14 when Porton and her children went for lunch at the Brewers Fayre.

Porton says she can’t remember much from the trip. but tells the court Lexi probably ate some chips.

Porton tells the court she couldn’t remember whether paramedics asked her to do so or she did so off her own back.

Referring to an injury Lexi received before her death - blotches to the cheeks - Mr Saxby asks if Porton can tell the court anything about it.

She says she doesn’t know.

He asks if something happened at the Brewers Fayre which would have caused Lexi to have scratches to her neck.

Porton says she does not know how Lexi came to get that injury.

Speaking about Porton’s version of the events of the night Scarlett died, Mr Saxby says: “I’m going to suggest you exaggerated the extent to which Scarlett struggled to walk”.

Porton says she couldn’t remember at the time.

He asks how blood appeared on Scarlett’s pillow and Porton says she doesn’t know.

He now turns to some bruising found in Scarlett’s neck muscles.

Porton says she does not know how Scarlett got these injuries.

She also denies knowing what caused bruising to Scarlett’s head.

Mr Saxby asks: “When did she fall over in the hotel room?”

Porton replies: “I don’t know”

 

[Tortoise]

I was reading on the fly today and just got chance to read through properly. I've put this in spoilers so people can skip past if they want.

haha, brilliant

 

[Alyce]

Just reading back to the beginning of this thread, to work out what stage of pregnancy LP is at...looks like at least 7 months if not more, based on her being in custody since end of January.

Also saw the part about her father taking photos of her when she had her initial court hearing