Thornaby stabbing: Keegan Barnes jailed for Toni Butler death

Keegan Barnes was found guilty of manslaughter

A woman has been jailed for stabbing her friend to death.

Keegan Barnes, 28, killed Toni Butler, 25, at Barnes' home in Vulcan Way, Thornaby, on 10 June 2021.

Barnes, who denied the killing saying it was self-defence, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter by a Teesside Crown Court jury.

Jailing her for eight years and six months, Mr Justice Lavender told Barnes she had "brought grief and misery" to Ms Butler's friends and family.

The court heard Barnes had been on a three-day drugs binge and claimed she had been asleep in bed when Ms Butler attacked her, with the fatal wounds caused in the ensuing struggle.

Prosecutor Nick Dry said Barnes was "heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol" and the "overwhelming evidence pointed towards the defendant being the aggressor and instigator of the violence".

He said she failed to provide or call for help after Ms Butler was injured, attempted to use Ms Butler's bank card and made a "concerted effort to "cover up and conceal evidence including the knife that had been used".

Toni Butler, 25, was described by her family as "one of a kind"

Ms Butler's mother Michelle Butler fought back tears as she read a victim impact statement to the court.

She said Ms Butler was her first-born child who "had her whole life ahead of her", adding: "She was beautiful, funny, loyal and had a heart of gold."

She said all who knew and loved Ms Butler had been "totally destroyed" by her "completely avoidable and senseless" death.

The court heard Ms Butler may have taken more than an hour to die, and Michelle Butler said not knowing how long her daughter suffered would "haunt us for the rest of our lives".

Michelle Colburn, representing Barnes, said the killer's self-defence claim was a "realistic possibility" and there had been a "violent confrontation" in the bedroom with Barnes' injuries "consistent with having been at least punched or kicked" by Ms Butler.

'Excessive self-defence'

She said the fatal wound - one of two stab injuries in Ms Butler's calf - was in an "unusual position" and it was "anatomically possible" Barnes inflicted it while she lay on the floor with Ms Butler standing over her with her foot on Barnes' chest.

Mr Justice Lavender said Barnes and Ms Butler had spent the previous day together on "friendly terms" but a fight broke out at about 04:15.

He said he was treating the case as one of "excessive self-defence" as he could not "rule out the possibility" Ms Butler, who was twice the weight of Barnes, initiated the violence as she had also been taking drugs and had spoken of stabbing someone.

But he said there was no evidence Ms Butler attempted to use a weapon in the fight and Barnes' use of a knife was a "serious escalation of the violence".

He said Barnes had attempted to cover the crime by washing Ms Butler's body, doing two loads of laundry and started to repaint blood-spattered walls.