Woman accused of knifing 'love rival' to death
“The last night of her life, Emma spent at Ashley’s house, They went out for a meal at Nando’s in Shirley arriving back at around 9.30pm. Even though Ashley was with Emma, he still found time to send and receive text messages from Karla.”
Mr Wall said on the morning of May 14, Mr Watson and his landlord Todd Hallam left for work leaving Ms Bradshaw alone in the house.
“At around 8am Karla got into the house. She told police she knocked on the door and Emma answered it. We may never know. Once inside the house Karla used a knife on Emma,” he said.
The court heard the knife punctured Ms Bradshaw’s liver and lung and also her colon and renal artery causing wounds nine centremetres and 13 centrementres deep. She had also suffered other stab wounds.
“During the attack, Emma went into the street and Karla Biddle went with her,” said Mr Wall.
“Outside there was a struggle and Emma ran to neighbours to get help but she collapsed. She was rushed to hospital but died at 9.07am.”
He said residents in Berkeley Road had seen the latter part of the struggle in the street and reported that both women were in nightclothes.
The court heard that Karla then went home, got changed and then CCTV cameras showed her car driving along the Bristol Road before she arrived at work in Colmore Gate in Birmingham city centre where she clocked on shortly before 9.30am.
Mr Wall said Karla set about covering up her tracks, ensuring Mr Watson had received an email in which she had told him she had got to work late because of the heavy traffic.
“She doesn’t mention anything that has happened and it’s an attempt by her to set up an alibi. She told police that after work she spent the afternoon sunbathing in Canon Hill Park.”
The court heard that after being arrested at 5pm by police later that day, Biddle at first denied having had anything to do with the incident but later changed her story and said that she had gone to see Ms Bradshaw and there was a struggle.
“She admitted to being there and tried to paint Emma as the aggressor,” said Mr Wall.
The court heard a statement in which Biddle said she had wanted to talk to Ms Bradshaw who went into the kitchen and came out carrying a knife.
She said in the statement: “We were struggling and it was a blur. I had the knife in my hand, then she had it. I grabbed her hand and her arm swung down and it went into her dressing gown. she had the knife in her hand and I just ran.”
Mr Wall said Biddle told police she had dumped her bloody clothes in a bin on the Yardley Wood Road. However, when they checked the items could not be found.
Giving evidence, Mr Watson, who worked at Mobis car parts firm in Lichfield, said he had been seeing Biddle and Ms Bradshaw and that although his relationship with the latter had finished at the time of her death, the relationships had “overlapped”.
(Proceeding)
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