Denbigh murder victim 'asked police for help' before attack

Laura Stuart died after she was stabbed

A mother-of-two allegedly murdered by her ex-partner went to the police just days before her death to complain about his behaviour, a court has heard.

Jason Cooper, 28, of Denbigh, is accused of stabbing Laura Stuart as she walked home from the pub on 12 August.

Mold Crown Court heard how Ms Stuart contacted North Wales Police two days before as she wanted messages from him to stop.

He denies murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The court heard Mr Cooper had lain in wait for Ms Stuart as she returned home from the Golden Lion on 12 August last year and had appeared calm after stabbing her and friend David Roberts.

Ms Stuart died in hospital two days after the attacks.

• Accused 'sent murder confession text'

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On Thursday the jury heard how Ms Stuart met police on 9 August as she wanted the "sheer volume" of messages from Mr Cooper to stop.

Police officer Helen Hobson, who is now retired, said Ms Stuart complained the messages were of a psychological and emotional nature, and he had threatened to distribute pictures of her.

But she told the jury that Ms Stuart had not wanted to take the matter to court as she feared it would make matters worse and refused to hand over her phone as it had numbers on it for work.

The officer said she had taken a statement and Ms Stuart had seemed calm and wanted the police to go and speak to him as she thought it would make him stop.

But she did not see the messages because of the lack of phone signal at Denbigh Police Station and despite her asking Ms Stuart to send her the messages and make a formal complaint, she did not hear from her again.

The alleged incident happened in Denbigh town centre

Earlier the jury heard how Mr Cooper sent text messages threatening to "erase" his ex-girlfriend after falsely accusing another man of having a relationship with her.

Witness Jamie Dowell told the court on Thursday he had known Laura Stuart for 25 years, but they were just friends.

In evidence, Mr Dowell said he did not recognise the Laura he knew from the descriptions of her in Mr Cooper's messages.

He said he received text messages from Mr Cooper describing Ms Stuart as self-centred and saying she would try to cause problems.

Mr Dowell met Mr Cooper in The Golden Lion Inn in Denbigh on 6 August to clear the air and the court heard Mr Dowell later received a text from the defendant saying: "I'm ready to kill mate that's how I feel. I invested three years plus of my life into her."

Another message spoke of "erasing" her.

The trial continues.