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

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 2m2 minutes ago

Mrs Botham said Williams was obsessed with Mr Johnston and David Hardwick was just her sugar daddy

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 1m1 minute ago

Adjourned for lunch. Case will resume around 2.05pm

 

[Alyce]

Witness: Mr Johnston was “the one and the only one she wanted to be with"

Nicola Botham agrees with Tony Cross QC, representing Katrina Walsh that Sarah gave the impression that David Hardwick was “just her sugar daddy” and that Ian “the one and the only one she wanted to be with.”

That concludes her evidence and the court breaks for lunch



http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/n...news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11580775

 

[JerricaBenton]

Looks like the Mirror wont be covering the trial this afternoon

"We are just going to wrap up our coverage from court for today, with the session set to go on a break shortly."

 

[Alyce]

Yes, looks like Mr Mirror Man is only doing it part time or has other things to do !!



The Chester Chronicle is covering, here's their latest

Witness: Williams called Sadie a "super *****" in text

Today’s evidence has now resumed after the lunch break.

We are hearing from Malcolm Evans, who knew Sarah Williams from the Chill Factore and went on holiday with her and her much older boyfriend David Hardwick.

He says on one trip to Italy in 2012 she got involved in an argument involving another couple and was very “aggressive.”

“The word that came to mind then and still does now was feral” he says of Sarah’s behaviour.

He says whilst he was on another trip in 2014 Sarah sent him a text calling Sadie Hartley a “super *****” and saying “I just cannot stand her.”


http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/n...news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11580775

 

[Alyce]

Witness says Walsh was at farm two days after Sadie's death

The owner of Collinge Farm in Backford, Chester, where the prosecution allege items used in the murder were buried, has been sworn in and is giving evidence.

He says he met Katrina Walsh, known as Kit, and Sarah Williams around 16 years ago.

He says they were both regular visitors but Sarah started coming less frequently after her horse died eight years ago.

He saw Kit Walsh at the farm on Saturday 16th January, two days after Sadie died, and she asked him for a bale of straw.

He says he saw her again on the morning of Monday 16th January and Kit told him Sarah had been arrested for murder.

When he asked why she had been arrested she replied: “I don’t know, I can’t remember if I don’t write it down.”

He says he later learned Kit had also been arrested for murder and taken police to the farm to show them where items were hidden.

He also reveals Kit Walsh wrote to him from prison saying that Sarah Williams had been “taking her money.”


eta The owner of Collinge Farm is Michael Cheers


http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/n...news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11580775

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 31m31 minutes ago

Mr Evans described Williams' texts about Sadie as 'too harsh to be taken lightly'


eta Mr Evans is a witness who knew Williams

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 20m20 minutes ago

Mr Evans said Walsh had never brought up issues of bad memory until morning she had been arrested

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 13m13 minutes ago

Witness Anita Dodd said Williams had known Walsh since she was a teenager through horse riding



( eta Anita Dodd is a saddler at the riding stables and knew both Williams and Walsh )

 

[Alyce]

Witness: Walsh “insinuated she may have been duped or fooled”

The next witness is saddler Anita Dodd.

She knew Sarah Williams and Kit Walsh, who was a riding teacher, and is also distantly related to Sarah’s partner David Hardwick.

She describes Sarah as “funny, confident, a thoroughly nice person, always up for a laugh.”

She says Katrina was a “quieter soul” but says the pair got on well and were good friends.

She says on Monday 16th January she saw Kit at the farm and she said Sarah had been arrested.

She said Kit burst into tears and “was clearly distressed.”

Miss Dodd says: “I was blown away by it, I couldn’t believe it.

“I thought they must have got it wrong.”

She says she saw Kit again a couple of days later and Kit was “babbling” and “insinuated she may have been duped or fooled” into doing something to help Sarah.


http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/n...news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11580775

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 8m8 minutes ago

Ms Dodd said Walsh looked frail and lost after Williams arrest. She also said she may have bought and delivered flowers


Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 6m6 minutes ago

Ms Dodd said Walsh was in awe of Williams and they were close friends. She also said Walsh rode a Harley Davison



Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 4m4 minutes ago

Ms Dodd said there was no dominant personality in the defendants relationship and they both had different strengths

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 2m2 minutes ago

Ms Dodd said Walsh told her years ago that she had memory like a sieve years ago


Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 1m1 minute ago

Ms Dodd said Walsh told her not to write certain things in diary because they didn't happen if they weren't written down



Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 50s50 seconds ago

Ms Dodd said Walsh was strong minded and wouldn't deviate if she had something planned

 

[Alyce]

Dodd: Walsh "may have been slightly in awe"

Gordon Cole representing Sarah Williams asks Miss Dodd if Kit Walsh had a “strange obsession with her?

Miss Dodd replies: “I think she may been slightly in awe of her.”

However she says neither was dominant over the other saying “they both had different strengths.”

She says during her conversation with Kit after Sarah’s arrest Kit told her that Sarah had told her not write certain things in her diary as if “they weren’t in the diary they hadn’t happened.”

Miss Dodd said she thought ‘oh god what has Sarah got Kit involved with?’



http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/n...news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11580775

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 3m3 minutes ago

Case adjourned for a short break. May be the end of witnesses for today.

 

[Alyce]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 12m12 minutes ago

Just been told that's it for the day. Proceedings will resume tomorrow

 

[Alyce]

Court adjourned for the day

That is all the evidence for today.
After a brief pause for some legal discussion, the jury are brought back in and the court is adjourned until 10:30am tomorrow morning.


http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/n...news/sadie-hartley-murder-trial-live-11580775

 

[JerricaBenton]

Aban Quaynor ‏@AbanQuaynorLT 20m20 minutes ago

Mr Evans said Walsh had never brought up issues of bad memory until morning she had been arrested

Hmmm, I bet!

 

[JerricaBenton]

Thanks for keeping up Alyce :loveyou:

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Thanks Alyce, far easier to read it all here!!

What's everyone's gut feeling about the guilt of them both, and deserved sentence (but early to call it I know!)?

 

[Alyce]

Thanks Alyce, far easier to read it all here!!

What's everyone's gut feeling about the guilt of them both, and deserved sentence (but early to call it I know!)?

I would find them both guilty as charged.

The evidence against Williams is substantial and the detail we have heard regarding, her character, obsession with getting what she wanted, tendency to lash out, all point to someone who would not hesitate to kill to achieve her aims.
In particular, that comment about her being almost feral struck a chord with me.

I will be most interested to see what her defence is - will she argue that she killed Sadie but did not mean to, hence it is not murder ? I can't think of any other way she can deny murder but I also can't see how the Jury would believe this defence. An 18 month plan to get rid of Sadie, a stun gun and 40 knife wounds is not the pattern of someone who didn't mean to commit murder.

I would expect a life sentence with a 30 year or above minimum.


I also think Walsh will be found guilty of murder as charged. Even though she did not carry out the actual murder and was not even at the scene, her level of involvement goes way beyond that of someone who was only on the periphery of the plot.
Her plea of saying that she thought she was taking part in some kind of game does not match the entries in her diary, where she expresses huge excitement at the thought of how she is going to be directly involved in killing the b**ch. To me this shows her to be equally as invested in the murder plot as Williams. Plus the amount of preparation work she did to obtain the necessary items and all her cover up work, show that she was equally involved, bar the actual killing.

I would hope she will get a life sentence although it may be slightly less in terms of minimum simply because she did not wield the knife and because we sadly dont have the rule of joint enterprise available now. I would estimate 23-25 years.