- https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/4783818.man-denies-murder-girl-18-stabbed-death-burnley-park/
A TEENAGER was repeatedly stabbed and beaten to death in Burnley's Towneley Park, a court has heard.
Former Haslingden High School pupil Louise Evans was led to the spot by Anthony Wood, 21, and Matthew Maw, 19, with whom she shared a Burnley hostel.
A witness told the court how she heard a "horrible, piercing scream."
followed by Maw asking if there was a brick available.
And she was murdered after Wood had repeatedly complained about her 'doing his head in' by being noisy during a drinking session, the court heard.
Investors are hunting for the next Bitcoin. Read more about Ethereum
ETORO
|
SPONSORED
Erika Eleniak Is Turning 51, This Is Her Today
THE CHEF PICK
|
SPONSORED
by Taboola
During the first day of a two-week trial at Preston Crown Court the jury was told that Maw had pleaded guilty to the murder, but Wood, 21, denies the same charge in planning and encouraging the brutal assault.
The trio had lived together for around two weeks in the Eizabeth Street Project hostel before the attack in the early hours of July 21.
They were part of a group of youngsters who had been on a drinking session the evening before.
Wood was said to be annoyed with Miss Evans, who had Asperger's syndrome, because she was being 'loud' and 'bouncing' around, the court heard.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Louise Blackwell QC, told the jury they will hear from a number of witnesses, with differing accounts of events.
Two of them claimed Wood told them that he would kill Miss Evans if she carried on with her beaviour but they assumed he was joking, she said.
After drinking in a group of around 10 people at the canalside, those who lived at the hostel returned to the building to meet the 11pm curfew.
However, five of them, including Miss Evans, Maw and Wood, were refused entry because they had broken the no-alcohol rule, Miss Blackwell said.
Wood was then said to have grabbed a knife from his room and placed it in his bag with food before leaving the hostel for the night, the court heard.
He led the group to a disused bowling alley close by, known locally as 'The Rubbles' where they intended to stay the night.
by Taboola
What Is A Lifetime Mortgage? The Guide For Over 60s
YOUR CHOICE EQUITY RELEASE
|
SPONSORED
New £19.99 Will-Writing Service: Redditch
LEGACY WILLS & ESTATE PLANNING QUOTES
|
SPONSORED
But when the group's attempts to gain entry to the building failed he guided them through the unlit Towneley Park to an area with thick undergrowth and vegetation that he knew well.
The prosecutor said: "Once again Anthony Wood was getting cross with Louise because she was getting naughty. He said she was 'doing his head in'.
"He again confided in members of the group that he was 'going to kill her tonight'.
"It is the prosecution's case that he took the knife with him intending it to be used on Louise Evans.
"She was led to a quiet and secluded spot. Having been led there by agreement, Matthew Maw attacked her first with a knife and then with a large piece of wood.
"She died of multiple injuries."
The court heard that none of the group saw the fatal attack but some had heard screams, thuds and crushing noises come from the area.
Nineteen-year-old Tracey Parkinson, who lived at the hostel and had known the trio for around two weeks, told the court that she had not got on well with Maw but that she and Wood had got on like 'a house on fire.'
When Wood told her he was going to kill Miss Evans and asked if she was going to 'gag' the victim, she thought he was joking, she said.
But she told the hearing that she later heard a "horrible, piercing scream" followed by Maw asking if there was a brick available.
The hearing was told that Wood was heard to reply: "No, if there was I would do it myself."
Miss Parkinson said she shone the light of her mobile phone on the pair and saw them 'grinning' as Miss Evans was laid on the ground with blood all over her face.
Another witness told detectives that he heard Maw scream before he heard a 'crushing sound' and up to 30 large thuds, the court heard.
Accompanied by her boyfriend Jason Hardacre, 22, and a 17-year-old, Miss Parkinson said she went to get help and called an ambulance.
The police were called and paramedics arrived to find Miss Evans with multiple slash and stab wounds, with her throat lacerated and front teeth missing.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Under cross-examination from Patrick Cosgrove QC, she admitted not wearing her glasses on the night of the attack despite having bad eyesight without them.
She also said she was drunk and admitted smoking cannabis on the night in question despite having denied it earlier.
The court also heard how she told a police officer at the scene that she did not think the attack had been carried out by any of the people she had been with, including Wood because 'they wouldn't hurt' Miss Evans.
A post-mortem examination showed she suffered 39 injuries to her neck and head, with additional wounds to her chest and arms.
A Home Office pathologist and consultant neuropathologist concluded the serious and extensive facial fractures would have led to asphyxia, Miss Blackwell said.
The likely cause of death was from inhaling her own blood but she was likely to have been rendered unconscious at some point by the heavy blows, the hearing was told.
Wood told police that he had not threatened Miss Evans at any stage and played no part in her death.
Miss Evans lived in Colne, where she attended Park High School, until she was 14 before moving to Haslingden and then Burnley.
Proceeding.
|
English
1990 - Yes, date unknown 
Has 2 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
Set As Default Person 
[1] 
Submit Headstone Photo 
