Did he plot to kill her? QC CLAIMS KILLER PLANNED MURDER.Byline: ROB KENNEDY SELF-confessed killer Stephen Newton denied plotting to end his partner's life. Prosecutors claim Newton murdered Nicola Morrin after a sevenyear campaign of domestic violence. Giving evidence, Newton has told a jury at Newcastle Crown Court he just "exploded" after Miss Morrin told him he wasn't the father of her one-year-old child. But prosecutors said text messages sent to his sister telling her what he had done prove the killing did not happen on the spur of the moment Adv. 1. on the spur of the moment - on impulse; without premeditation; "he decided to go to Chicago on the spur of the moment"; "he made up his mind suddenly" suddenly . Toby Hedworth QC, prosecuting, said to Newton: "This killing was not something that arose out of what she said to you that night. "It was something that was going to happen sooner or later wasn't it? "You had decided that at some stage you were going to kill her and you know full well you can't admit that because that is not provocation Conduct by which one induces another to do a particular deed; the act of inducing rage, anger, or resentment in another person that may cause that person to engage in an illegal act. . "This whole thing about thinking the baby was yours until suddenly there was this revelation that she was not yours was a falsehood, was it not?" Newton, who denies murder on the grounds of provocation, replied: "Not true." He went on to repeat his account of what had happened, saying he can't remember killing Miss Morrin but found himself with a knife in his hand and his victim dead on the floor. Newton said: "I seen the baby's tights and I just lost my mind. "My next recollection is of the Stanley knife Stanley knife Noun Trademark a type of knife with a thick metal handle with a short, very sharp, replaceable blade [after F. T. Stanley, businessman] in my hand and Nicola with blood coming from behind her head. I can't actually remember killing Nicola." After killing her he sent a text to his sister saying 'I'm sorry Kez but couldn't let her get away with hurting yous ok' and another, unsent, message, was found on his phone which said 'told you she was not walking away this time. Love yous. Ok pet.' When police turned up Newton was watching TV with Miss Morrin dead on the floor and the baby asleep in another room. Newton was forbidden from contacting Miss Morrin as part of his bail conditions for a previous attack two weeks before he ended up at her flat in Bramwell Court, Gosforth, Newcastle, in July last year. It is claimed he strangled stran·gle v. stran·gled, stran·gling, stran·gles v.tr. 1. a. To kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. b. Miss Morrin with the baby's tights before cutting her throat at least six or seven times. Newton, 38, of Kirkston Avenue, Lemington, Newcastle, has admitted manslaughter manslaughter, homicide committed without justification or excuse but distinguished from murder by the absence of the element of malice aforethought. Modern criminal statutes usually divide it into degrees, the most common distinction being between voluntary and but denies murder on the grounds of provocation. The trial continues. CAPTION(S): VICTIM: New mum Nicola Morrin was killed at her home ACCUSED: Stephen Newton denies murder |
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