Jury retires in trial of girl accused of murder

The jury has retired in the trial of a 14-year-old girl accused of murdering a woman whose body had 140 knife injuries.

Jurors at Lincoln Crown Court have heard more than two weeks of evidence over the stabbing of 43-year-old Marta Bednarczyk, who was pronounced dead at a property in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, on 10 March.

Prosecutors allege the girl, who cannot be identified because of her age, conducted online research, planned the killing and "plainly thought she was getting away with murder".

The defendant denies murdering Ms Bednarczyk, claiming she was instead guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility caused by mental health issues.

Jurors at the trial Lincoln Crown Court, which is taking place at the city's magistrates' court, were told the defendant was hearing voices telling her to harm other people in the months before the killing.

During her evidence to the jurors, the girl, who was aged 13 at the time of the killing, said: "It felt like my entire mind shut down. I just wasn't in control of my own body - it was as if it was moving on its own."

The teenager, who said she could not remember starting a fire after the killing, claimed she had conducted Google searches, which included "what happens when a 13-year-old murders?", out of curiosity.

Witness Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, a clinical psychologist, told the court that the teenager was suffering from a "highly distressing" mental disorder affecting her ability to form a rational judgment or exercise self-control.

He added he also believed the dissociative disorder had substantially impaired the girl's ability to understand the nature of her conduct.

At the start of the trial, prosecutor Samuel Skinner KC told jurors: "We say it is murder because she planned the killing, and we say it is murder because she lied about what she did.

"And we say it is murder because there are genuine specialists in this field of psychiatry and psychology that say her actions were not caused by poor mental health."

Evidence from a pathologist was presented to the trial, that Ms Bednarczyk had 143 sharp force injuries, including 65 inflicted to her head and neck, one of which entered the brain.

Judge Mrs Justice Tipples sent the jury out to begin its deliberations on Tuesday.

The trial continues.

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