Killer wined and dined me after stabbing his parents; Ex-girlfriend tells of fantasy world of evil teenager.

Byline: BY ALAN WESTON

THE former girlfriend of teenage killer Brian Blackwell said he had 'violated her trust' by weaving a complicated web of lies to cover up his parents' murders.

The 19-year-old killed his father, Brian, 72, and mother Jacqueline, 60, in a frenzied knife and hammer attack at their bungalow in Sandy Lane, Melling, last July.

Only 10 hours after the double murder, he took his girlfriend, Amal Saba, on a luxury holiday to America and the Caribbean, bankrolled with pounds 30,000 of his parents' money.

Amal, now 18, said: 'I know now he was completely immersed in a fantasy world and that he was an absolutely compulsive liar, he lied in everything he did from the moment I met him.

'I am angry because he ruined my ability to trust. But my overwhelming feeling now is relief that I got away, that it didn't get worse, that I wasn't a victim, too.

'For the two weeks after the police came to arrest him, I was devastated. I was crying all day, I spent all day in bed, I couln't eat, had nightmares.

'Now I'm enrolled at Nottingham University and, when I'm there, I'm away from it and can put it out of my mind, but when I come back to Liverpool for the holidays, such as now, it all comes back to me and I can't escape.

'I want people to know how it was possible to believe what he said to me, because it happened slowly, bit by bit, and, once you believe one part of a complicated lie, you have no reason to disbelieve the rest, even if it is fantasy.'

Blackwell claimed he stabbed his parents after a row because they told him they hated Amal who, he said, was the love of his life.

In an interview, she reportedly said: 'I knew they didn't like him spending a lot of time with me but I was not thinking of marriage, even if he was.

'I think the real problem for him was that his mother was getting suspicious about what he was doing and they didn't like his spending habits.

'But I don't think anyone will ever know the true reason why he killed them.'

She also gave a chilling insight into Blackwell's lack of concern or remorse over the murder of his parents.

She said that splashing out huge sums of money seemed to give him a sense of importance and power.

She added: 'He was wining and dining me but it's spooky to think he had just killed his parents. 'That's why, when he was first arrested, in our house, I couldn't believe it was him. During all the time I knew him, there were no signs of abnormality.

'He didn't go quiet, or sleep badly, or seem upset during the whole trip.

'He was a very good actor. I've got photos from 10 hours after he killed them and he was laughing on the plane as if nothing had happened.

'To think how he had paid for that trip, what must have been going through his mind, what he had done, sends a chill down my spine.'

Blackwell was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to two charges of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Liverpool Crown Court judge Mr Justice Royce, who said Blackwell displayed 'breathtaking callousness', told him it was unlikely he would ever be deemed safe to release from prison

CAPTION(S):

Victims Brian and Jacqueline Blackwell; Amal Saba told of the shock when she found out that Brian Blackwell killed his parents

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Publication:	Daily Post (Liverpool, England)
Date:	Aug 1, 2005
Words:	599
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