Woman accused of knifing 'love rival' to death
A WOMAN embroiled in a love triangle stabbed her rival to death before going to work and then sunbathing in a park, a court heard.
Karla Biddle, of Aldbury Road, Yardley Wood, attacked 30-year-old Emma Bradshaw at the home of Ashley Watson – the man they both considered to be their boyfriend, it was told.
Ms Bradshaw stumbled into the street in her nightclothes and collapsed as she tried to get help from neighbours. She died shortly afterwards in hospital. Biddle, 32, has denied murdering Ms Bradshaw in Berkley Road, Shirley, in May last year.
Mark Wall, prosecuting at Warwick Crown Court, said the case was something of a love triangle as Biddle and Ms Bradshaw were both in a relationship with Mr Watson, aged 32, who split his time between the two of them.
Addressing the jury of six men and six women, Mr Wall said: “You will have to decide whether this was Ashley wanting to have his cake and eating it.
“The first part of the triangle is between the defendant and Ashley. They had been in an on-and-off relationship for 14 years. The two of them drifted apart and Ashley started a relationship with Emma.
“However, he didn’t do as you might hope and make a clean break, What he did was to see both women.
“Karla knew about the new relationship and at times found it difficult having to share Ashley.”
Mr Wall, who said Biddle had been keeping a diary of Mr Watson’s movements. He told the court that on the evening before the murder Ashley was spending the night with Ms Bradshaw at his lodgings in Berkeley Road.
Ms Bradshaw, who lived in Clarence Road, Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, was due to go on a college course in Solihull the following day and had found it easier to stay in Berkeley Road as it was nearer than her own home.
