SPALDING MURDER TRIAL: Jury retires for the evening

The juror of seven men and five women spent just over half an hour considering the evidence at Nottingham Crown Court this afternoon before being sent home for the night.

The girl has admitted killing school dinner lady Elizabeth Edwards (49) and her daughter Katie (13).

The pair were both stabbed in the neck as they slept in their home at Dawson Avenue, Spalding in April this year.

Both Mrs Edwards and Katie were killed by a 14-year-old boy but the girl is alleged to have planned the murders with him and been the “driver” behind the offences.

The girl denies two charges of murder but admits two charges of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

The boy has admitted two charges of murder between April 12 and 15.

MONDAY, 4.25PM: Jury out to consider verdicts in Edwards double killing case

The jury in the trial of a 14-year-old girl accused of murdering Spalding mother and daughter Liz and Katie Edwards is now considering its verdicts. Members of the jury retired late this afternoon after hearing evidence in relation to the teenage girl who is accused of both murders.

The girl is alleged to have been “the driver” behind the killings of school dinner lady Liz Edwards (49) and her daughter Katie (13) who were both stabbed in the neck as they slept in bed at their home in Dawson Avenue, Spalding, in April 2016.

During a five-day trial at Nottingham Crown Court which began last Monday, the jury heard that the accused girl had plotted the killings with a 14-year-boy who previously admitted two charges of murder which took place between April 12 and 15.

The girl is alleged to have gone through the murder plan with the teenage boy “over and over and over again”, originally planning to carry out one killing each.

But the girl changed her mind at the last minute and the boy carried out both killings, with Katie having also been smothered with a pillow after she had been stabbed.

The girl denies two charges of murder but has admitted two charges of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Previously...

Poignant moment in court on what would have been Katie’s 14th birthday