Murder-accused 'volatile and jealous', court told

Kirsty Carless denies the murder of Louis Price on Christmas Day

A court has been told a "manipulative, emotionally volatile and jealous" woman stabbed her ex-partner in the heart on Christmas Day while on police bail for strangling him.

Kirsty Carless, 33, was said to be "fuelled by cocaine and alcohol" when she took a taxi from her home in Cannock, Staffordshire, to the address where 31-year-old Louis Price was living.

She plunged a kitchen knife into his chest after a friend had shown her his profile on a dating app, Stafford Crown Court was told.

Ms Carless denies murdering Mr Price and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.

The prosecution said she took the kitchen knife with her from her home in Haling Way to her ex-partner's parents' home in Elm Road in Norton Canes in a taxi at about 03:00 GMT on 25 December last year.

Carless had been on police bail after allegedly strangling Mr Price on 11 November.

She denies one count of intentional strangling and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to that incident.

'Highly volatile'

In his opening speech on Tuesday, prosecution counsel Jonas Hankin KC said father-of-six Mr 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", which was "characterised by a cycle of separation and reconciliation".

In text messages sent to Mr Price the day before his death, Ms Carless said: "I hate u... I wish you was dead."

The court heard she had been at the pub drinking with a male friend on 24 December, with whom she later had sex, before a female friend sent her a screenshot of Mr Price's Tinder profile in the early hours of Christmas Day.

"The prosecution says the defendant's actions were motivated by anger and jealousy, fuelled by cocaine and alcohol abuse," Mr Hankin said.

"Her behaviour simply reflects her volatile, aggressive personality."

Court heard she called Mr Price 45 times between 02:15 and 02:44.

'Sounded scared'

Members of Mr Price's family sobbed in the public gallery as CCTV footage was played of the moment Ms Carless arrived at the house and "stalked" him around the garden, where he had been staying in a caravan, as he held his chest.

Mr Hankin told the jury the blade penetrated 12cm (4.7 inches) into his chest, cutting through skin, muscle, rib cartilage, lung tissue and the heart.

"He died rapidly on the floor of the conservatory in his parents' home."

Mr Hankin added the taxi driver reported that about 30 seconds after Ms Carless let herself into the property with a key, he heard a "very loud and prolonged" scream from a man and that he "sounded scared".

He said less than two minutes after arriving at the scene, Ms Carless was "anxious and sweating" as she got back into the taxi and demanded the driver take her to her parents' home, where she allegedly admitted what she had done and called 999.

The trial continues.