Ex-girlfriend ‘stabbed father of six to death while on bail for strangling him’
A “jealous” ex-girlfriend stabbed a father of six in the heart on Christmas Day while on police bail for strangling him, a court has heard.
Kirsty Carless, 33, allegedly murdered Louis Price, 31, in a cocaine and alcohol-fuelled rage on Dec 25 last year.
Stafford Crown Court was told that she took a taxi from her home in Cannock, Staffordshire, to Norton Canes, and plunged a kitchen knife into Price’s chest after a friend had shown her his profile on a dating app.
Carless, who appeared in the dock wearing a white shirt, with her hair in a ponytail, denies murdering Mr Price and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
At the time of the fatal stabbing, she had been on police bail after allegedly strangling Mr Price on Nov 11 last year. She denies one count of intentional strangling and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In his opening speech on Tuesday, Jonas Hankin KC, the prosecution counsel, said Price had been considered by police to be “at very high risk of domestic abuse” before his death. He said the pair had been in a “dysfunctional, abusive and highly volatile relationship”, which began in 2021 and was “characterised by a cycle of separation and reconciliation”.
‘Volatile, aggressive personality’
In text messages sent to Price the day before his death, Carless said “I hate u... I wish you was dead”, the court heard.
The court heard that she had been at the pub drinking double vodka and cokes with a male friend on Dec 24 before a female friend sent her a screenshot of Mr Price’s Tinder profile at around 1.30am on Christmas Day.
“When she received this Tinder profile, things changed,” said Mr Hankin. “The prosecution say the defendant’s actions were motivated by anger and jealousy, fuelled by cocaine and alcohol abuse. Her behaviour simply reflects her volatile, aggressive personality.”
Mr Hankin told the jury: “The prosecution say that she intended to kill Mr Price and, in order to prove the offence of murder, we have to prove she intended to at least cause really serious harm.
“We say, what else can she have intended when she drove this knife into the chest of her ex-partner? The evidence will show that the defendant had taken that knife with her to the scene for the specific purpose of stabbing her ex-partner.”
Mr Hankin added: “The evidence shows, the prosecution say, that Kirsty Carless was manipulative, emotionally volatile and jealous. Her harmful use of alcohol and cocaine worsened her behaviour and the effects of intoxication intensified the negative traits of her personality.”
The trial continues.