'DRIVEN TO MURDER' BY FACEBOOK; Court told man strangled partner after website row.

A MAN stabbed and strangled his partner after becoming resentful of the time she spent on Facebook, a court has heard.

Brian Lewis is accused of killing Hayley Jones at the family home while their four children slept upstairs.

The defendant fled the scene during the early hours of March 12 and drove to a police station, leaving his children to find their mother's body in the living room, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Lewis, 31, of Pritchard Terrace, Phillipstown, New Tredegar, South Wales, denies murder.

The jury heard cracks began to appear in the couple's relationship due to financial problems after Lewis lost his job.

As a result, the 26-year-old mother found work as a care assistant, having previously stayed at home to look after their children.

Prosecutor Mark Evans QC said: "Hayley had at the same time started to expand her social horizons. "She had begun spending a lot of time on the internet chat site Facebook.

Brian Lewis was to state in interview and to other people that she had been quite secretive about this.

"For example, preventing him

Gareth Llewellyn [e-mail] from accessing the site and switching the computer off to prevent him from seeing any of the content.

"It is quite clear fromthe evidence, you will hear, this rankled with him."

MrEvanssaid the relationshipbetween the accusedandMsJones deteriorated to such an extent that she changed her Facebook status to "single" onMarch2 of this year, just over a week before her death.

The prosecutor added: "It is quite clear that Brian Lewis became quite anxious and suspicious of her internet activity."

The jury later heard that in a police interview Lewis told officers he had accepted the breakdown of their relationship and their "only real tension" was over the time she spent on the internet .

Mr Evans said this attitude contrasted with the evidence from drinkers at the Phillipstownsocial club on the evening of Sunday, March 8, who claimed the defendant said that if he couldn't have Hayley no-one elsewould because he will kill her first.

"Bearing in mind this Sunday was only a few days before the killing occurred," he said.

"We in the prosecution say he was not accepting of the breakdown in the relationship but hewas angry about it. This is demonstrated by his comments to friends in the social club days before," he added.

The court heard from a transcript of when Lewis dialled 999 at 3.59am on March 12 stating that he had killed his girlfriend.

When asked by the emergency services operator how he had killed her, Lewis told the operator: "I strangled her."

When asked why he strangled her, Lewis is heard to reply: "We had an argument."

He also told the operator that his children were asleep in their bedrooms but Mr Evans said they, in fact, came downstairs after their father had driven from the house.

"Theymay havewell tried to revive her or cover her body up," said Mr Evans.

The court heard a post-mortem examination found Ms Jones died of strangulation. Most significant, saidMrEvans, was a stabbing injury she received to her chest.

The prosecutor said this proved to be non-fatal as the blade's path had been blocked byMs Jones' rib cage although it had penetrated two sleeping bags and three layers of clothing she was wearing while trying to sleep on the living room settee.

"The incident shows Hayley was lying down on the settee when this assault occurred," said Mr Evans. "She could not have been on her feet fighting, throwing punches.

"Whatever the truth of what Brian Lewis is saying, he had first tried to stab her with the largest kitchen knife as she lay on the settee trying to get to sleep."

The jury heard the defendant told police in interviewhe had the knife in his hands at the time of the scuffle with his partner because he was trimming his fingernails.

(Proceeding)

'Stabbed and then strangled after row'

CAPTION(S):

Care assistant Hayley Jones died at her home while her four children slept upstairs