GUILTY UK - Sadie Hartley, 60, murdered, Helmshore, Lancs, 14 Jan 2016 #1

[Alyce]

This is a recap by The Guardian of today's evidence, plus the background to the case.

A few snippets


Gordon Cole QC, defending Williams, warned the defendant she would be in the witness box “for some time” as he began questioning her on Wednesday.





Cole on Wednesday asked Williams to describe her “general character”. The witness replied: “I’m quite easy-going, I can get on with people relatively easily.”

Cole continued: “How about aggressive? Saying things about people?”

“No, I would not say I’m aggressive at all,” the defendant replied.

Cole said: “Use of the word ‘*****’?” Williams replied: “Yes. It’s in my vocabulary if I’m being critical.”



https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...tofeed&CMP=twt_b-gdnnews#link_time=1470229700


ETA WS has edited out the word which begins with B and ends with H and is 5 letters !

 

[Alyce]

Physical relationship with Mr Johnston started in 2013

Miss Williams says the pair didn’t begin a physical relationship until Mr Johnston returned from Switzerland in the summer of 2013.

She says they first had sexual relations at his house in Helmshore on the 18th September, 2013.

She says he later told her he was in a relationship with Sadie Hartley and was going on holiday to Ecuador with her.

Miss Williams says Mr Johnston often talked to her with his concerns about his relationship with Mrs Hartley.
She says: “He talked about the financial disparity between them, he certainly said this was an issue.”
She adds: “He also mentioned on more than one occasion he was concerned he was going down the wrong road in his life and if he was going in the right direction by continuing to have a relationships with her.”

She says she and Mr Johnston exchanged explicit messages via Facebook whilst he was away and had sex at his house when he returned and that they ‘continued to have sex.’

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Legally Bland]

For juxtaposition with previous witness evidence.

Court hears about relationship with ski instructor

Sarah WIlliams is now talking about her relationship with a third ski instructor Somapat Sitiwatjana, also referred to as ‘Master A.’
She says she had a sexual relationship with the 47 year-old married man however it ended when she found out he was seeing someone else.
She denies following him around or trying to bump into him afterwards.
However she admits letting his tyres down as he she says he had been following her around and ‘giving me a bit of grief.’

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

KW (Work Colleague): Kerry Williams, a former workmate of the accused, said the defendant was ‘besotted’ with Mr Sitiwatjana, known in local martial arts circles as Master A.

She said: “There was a time when we were at my house and Sarah was talking about Master A. She said, ‘oh, I just need to get rid of her now’, referring to his wife. As I told Sarah quite often, I said, ‘you can’t do things like that’.”

She said Williams made several stabbing gestures to her head while making the ‘Psycho’ sound, made famous in the Alfred Hitchcock film.

The witness said Williams would refer to Master A’s wife as a ‘*****’ and that she realised the relationship had ended when conversations turned ‘sour’, and Williams’s actions had become stalker-like. [link]

MB (Work Colleague): described Williams as ‘a bunny boiler’. [link]

Mr. SS: described how Miss Williams went on to turn up unannounced at his gym in Manchester and park outside in her car.

Mr Sitiwatjana said she would drive off quickly when he spotted her, but on one occasion he asked why she was there and Miss Williams told him she was seeing a friend. [link]


Mrs. SS: In September 2012, Mrs Sitiwatjana reported Williams to the police with claims that she was harassing her with unwanted texts and visits to her home, where she would ‘stare’ at her from a car parked on the other side of the road. [link]

 

[Alyce]

Williams saw future with Mr Johnston

Miss WIlliams is asked if she saw her future with Ian Johnston.

“At times I did yes” she says.

She adds: “Ian had said, entirely of his own volition, that he didn’t intend to continue his relationship with Sadie.

“It hadn’t been discussed how it would end or anything to that effect.

“At that point my relationship with David (Hardwick) wasn’t great.

“Whether that would just stagger to a halt was still up in the air.”

We’ve now adjourned for a short break.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Legally Bland]

Williams denies speaking to Walsh's ex-husband

Sarah Williams says she last spoke to Katrina Walsh’s ex-husband Kevin Walsh in around 2006 or 2007.
The prosecution have earlier claimed in their opening that Miss Williams tried to recruit him to the alleged murder plot in August 2015.
However asked if she spoke to or communicated with him in any way at that time she replies “no.”

She also says before this court case she had no idea what a ‘burner’ SIM card was.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850



ETA I wonder if Kevin Walsh has a record of the call

KW: Kevin Walsh told the court that the defendants tried to recruit him to the plot. He said he was contacted by his ex-wife out of the blue last August as she tried to set up a meeting between him and Williams for something “nefarious”.

He said he then received a call from Williams who said she had a job suiting his “particular key skill” but did not want to discuss it over the phone and preferred to meet in person.

The jury heard that Williams was using an untraceable, pay-as-you-go mobile phone, and Mr Walsh said “alarm bells were going off in my head” as he believed Williams was up to “something dodgy”.

He said he had no idea why he was being contacted as he had not spoken to Williams for eight years. He decided to block Williams’ number and cut off contact.

In a diary entry, Walsh suggested her ex had been sought out for his archery skills.[link]

(Aagghhh, there's at least 3 people with the initials KW).

 

[Alyce]

Ah, so Kevin W wont be able to show proof of this call ...gggrrr

These similar initials are irritating .......... and then we have the Defence counsels - Cross and Cole

 

[Alyce]

Relationship started to go 'pear-shaped'

Before Ian Johnston went away to Switzerland in 2014, Miss Williams said: “It was left on the premise he needed to get his head together and sort his life out as he couldn’t carry on in this vain.
“Again he mentioned the financial disparity between him and Sadie.”
She says contact between them began to decrease and despite seeing each other a couple of times when he got back, things ‘started to go pear-shaped’.
She admits going to see him immediately after he returned.
She says he left her a key and left.
She admits she had some copies of this key made saying: “It seemed a good idea at the time as I thought I would have to give that one back.”
She says they continued to sleep with each other despite ‘friction’ and ‘heated discussions’ about their relationship.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Alyce]

Williams discusses letter sent to Sadie Hartley

We’re now moving on to discuss the letter Miss Williams sent to Sadie Hartley in September 2014.
She says at this point her relationship with Mr Johnston ‘had basically broken down’.
“I was very upset, distressed and cross at him,” she added.
She said she sent just one, typed letter to Mrs Hartley.
She says Kit Walsh and her friend Natalie Chapman ‘both agreed I should send it’.
She agrees with her barrister Mr Cole QC that it ‘wasn’t very nice’ in nature but insists it was ‘factually accurate’.
She says: “I was venting my feelings towards Ian but they were not directed at the right person.”
Asked if she regretted sending it she replies: “Yes. It was a crap thing to do.”


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Alyce]

'Massive row' over the letter

Sarah Williams said Sadie Hartley rang her after receiving the letter.
She says: “There was no swearing. Shouting is the wrong word she possibly raised her voice.”
She adds: “She said she would take it up with Ian.”
She says she later went round to Ian Johnston’s house to speak to him but they had a ‘massive row’.
“He wasn’t best pleased as you can imagine after the letter and whatever had happened to him as a result of it,” she says.
Miss Williams says she apologised ‘repeatedly’ but ‘we just ended up shouting and screaming’.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Alyce]

'There was no animosity as such'

Asked if she had any feelings of animosity towards Mrs Hartley she said: “My opinions were based on things he (Mr Johnston) had said rather than anything else as my conversations with her had been not at all in depth.
“There was no animosity as such.
“I didn’t like the position she held. He said he felt trapped and the trap was closing.”
She also admits she may have called her a b***h to friends, including Kit Walsh.
“It’s in my vocabulary and if I’m being critical it’s a word I would use,” she says.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Alyce]

There was no consideration of any real or ongoing relationship'

Sarah Williams says she and Mr Johnston began contacting each other again after they both attended a mutual friends’ funeral in September 2015.
“It became more regular,” she says.
“Maybe once a week, going to a twice a week and increasing from there.
“It was good, it was nice.”
Asked if she still had feelings for him she says: “Yes, but in a different way to how they had been.
“There was no consideration of any real or ongoing relationship.
“And events in my own life had changed independent from him.
“My relationship with David (Hardwick) had improved.”
Asked how she felt about Mr Hardwick she said: “I thought the world about him.”


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Alyce]

Met up at Christmas party

In December 2015 both Miss Williams and Mr Johnston attended a Christmas party organised by the group of skiers they were part of.
She says Mr Johnston spoke to her at the bar beforehand and said he would be ‘hell’ for him if he was seen to be talking to her.
She says they also talked after the meal.
Afterwards the pair began swapping texts which Mr Cole said were explicit and ‘didn’t leave much to the imagination’.
Miss Williams says: “It was nice. I liked having those kind of conversations with him.”
However, she says there was no sexual relations between them.
She says Mr Johnston said “I am worried you will try to contact Sadie again” but she reassured him she wouldn’t.
She says they intended to meet up and she agrees with Mr Cole that ‘the intention was to resume your sexual relationship’.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[Legally Bland]

BIB, it's not clear, but I don't think NC approved of the letter.

Williams discusses letter sent to Sadie Hartley

We’re now moving on to discuss the letter Miss Williams sent to Sadie Hartley in September 2014.
She says at this point her relationship with Mr Johnston ‘had basically broken down’.
“I was very upset, distressed and cross at him,” she added.
She said she sent just one, typed letter to Mrs Hartley.
She says Kit Walsh and her friend Natalie Chapman ‘both agreed I should send it’.
She agrees with her barrister Mr Cole QC that it ‘wasn’t very nice’ in nature but insists it was ‘factually accurate’.
She says: “I was venting my feelings towards Ian but they were not directed at the right person.”
Asked if she regretted sending it she replies: “Yes. It was a crap thing to do.”


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

NC (Work Colleague): Natalie Chapman, who worked with Williams at the Crystal Ski Holiday company, said: “She told me that she was in love with him and that she wanted to marry him.”

In August 2015, Williams allegedly learned from Johnston’s Facebook page that he had returned from a holiday. Williams told colleagues she would go to Johnston’s home, the court heard.

Describing a conversation the day after the visit, Chapman said: “I got the impression that she told him that she wanted to see him but he said no. She went anyway and when she got to the house she barged him out of the way and sat on the sofa and cried.”

Williams refused to leave despite Johnston telling her he was due to go out, Chapman said. “He left her a key in case she needed to get out of the house. But after he left she got undressed and got into his bed and waited for him to return.”

The next morning, the court heard, Williams boasted to work colleagues that they had had sex. Williams had three copies made of keys to Johnston’s house and showed them at a works party, the jury was told.

Chapman said that after another encounter with Johnston, Williams “was very excited because she had seen Ian and because he had touched her arm, and she said that she was not going to wash it because he had touched her”.In November 2015, Williams told colleagues how the previous night she had let herself into Johnston’s home, setting off the alarm, Chapman said.

Ignoring advice from her colleagues, Williams went on to write a letter to Johnston’s partner in an attempt to split them up, the court heard. [link]

 

[Legally Bland]

Not directly related to the murder, but SW has definitely admitted some things which would build a picture of obsessive behaviour.

• Letting down the tyres of her lover's car.
• Sending her lover a picture of someone else's baby scan.
• Writing letters to two lover's partners.
• Getting keys cut for her lover's house without his knowledge.

Any more?

 

[Alyce]

Court to resume tomorrow

That concludes today’s evidence.
Miss Williams will take the stand again at 10.30am tomorrow.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11697850

 

[jessie]

I am curious if she had any relationships with men closer to her own age anytime?

 

[jessie]

Thank you Alyce, be lost without your updates.

Also thanks LB. Even closely following this, your reminders of Pros case are really helpful.

Much appreciated both of you.

 

[Alyce]

Not directly related to the murder, but SW has definitely admitted some things which would build a picture of obsessive behaviour.

• Letting down the tyres of her lover's car.
• Sending her lover a picture of someone else's baby scan.
• Writing letters to two lover's partners.
• Getting keys cut for her lover's house without his knowledge.

Any more?

Sitting outside their houses in her car...although no doubt Williams would refer to this as calling round

 

[jessie]

Not directly related to the murder, but SW has definitely admitted some things which would build a picture of obsessive behaviour.

• Letting down the tyres of her lover's car.
• Sending her lover a picture of someone else's baby scan.
• Writing letters to two lover's partners.
• Getting keys cut for her lover's house without his knowledge.

Any more?

This too ? Bit obsessive imo.

Thai-born Mr Sitiwatjana, who runs a martial arts gym, said he broke off his relationship with Williams after she 'got too close'.

His wife of 25 years, Janet, found out he had been unfaithful when Miss Williams visited the family home while he was away in Thailand in 2012, Preston Crown Court heard.

A letter was also sent to Mrs Sitiwatjna at around the same time.

 

[Legally Bland]

Oooh. There was a twitter feed from a BBC reporter. I never thought to check. Don't think there's much that hasn't been covered by Alyce's posts, but here's the link. Hope he's there tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/mrdaveguest