Staffordshire mother-of five accused of murdering ex-partner tells jury she felt 'disgusted' over his death
A woman accused of murdering her ex-partner has denied being jealous after being shown his new dating app profile.
Kirsty Carless, from Cannock, is standing trial accused of the murder of Louis Price, the father of one of her children, at a property in Elm Road in Norton Canes near Cannock on December 25 last year, hours after they agreed to part company. Mr Price died from a stab wound.
Giving evidence on the witness stand at Stafford Crown Court today (July 22) the defendant told the jury that she did not feel jealous after a friend sent her a screenshot of Mr Price and their daughter on the dating app Tinder at about 1.28am.
The jury was previously told she was with another man called David Jones when she received the message, and that she immediately left afterwards without giving an explanation.
Defence barrister Miss Michelle Heeley KC asked how she felt when she saw the picture. The 33-year-old replied: "It wasn't about him. I didn't care. Dating apps were a third wheel in our lives.
"It was about my baby and the emotions came back. I wasn't going to see the kids. I got my things together and went home. I thought 'what am I doing here?' I just wanted to get back on my feet."
She said that due to their difficult and on/off, abusive relationship her children were living with relatives and at one stage she was placed on a social services programme designed to reunite the family once her situation improved. She explained that she felt angry that "someone" had reported that she was back with him in the autumn, resulting in her being taken off the scheme.
She told the jury she could not recall having an argument with Mr Price that night and said that she had been drinking and had taken "a little bit of drugs".
The mother-of-five said she tried to call Mr Price, but he did not respond. She said: "I got a taxi to his mom's and dad's."
She denied that she took a knife with her to Elm Road, and said that she had no recollection of stabbing him and that she was “not a violent person”.
She said she picked up a knife to destroy Mr Price's caravan in the garden because she believed he had taken money from one of her children's cards.
Defence barrister Miss Michelle Heeley KC asked: "How do you feel now?" to which Carless replied: "Disgusted. This was not the end me and Louis planned."
Carless, of Haling Way, Bridgtown, Cannock, denies murder. She previously pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of manslaughter and pleaded guilty to criminal damage relating to an incident in November when she poured bleach over his clothes.
The trial continues.
