Teens ‘stabbed Spalding mum and daughter through throat’ after planning murder at McDonald’s

Two 14-year-olds carried out the “cold, calculated and callous killings” of a Spalding mum and her 13-year-old daughter, a court heard.

The boy and girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, planned the killings for several days after meeting at a McDonald’s to discuss their intentions, a jury at Nottingham Crown Court was told.

The bodies of school dinner lady Elizabeth Edwards, 49, known as Liz and her daughter Katie, 13, were found at their semi detached home in Dawson Avenue, Spalding on April 15 this year.

Police later arrested a 14-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl in connection with the deaths.

The girl, now 15, denies two charges of murder.

The jury heard a 15-year-old boy plead guilty to murdering the mother and daughter.

Peter Joyce QC, prosecuting, told them: “The killings happened within moments of each other. The mother was killed first. She was killed while Katie slept in a nearby bedroom.

“They were both stabbed through the throat in their beds at their home.”

The jury heard it was the boy who carried out the murders but the girl is saying as her defence to murder that her responsibility for the killings was diminished by her mental state.

But Mr Joyce said the girl was as guilty of murder as the boy.

Mr Joyce said the prosecution case is that the girl, together with the boy, “planned and carried out cold, calculated and callous killings” of Liz and Katie Edwards.

The killings came to light when three police officers forced entry through the front living room window to a house in Dawson Avenue, Spalding, on Friday, April 15.

Officers went upstairs to find the two bodies.

The house had been visited three times on the Thursday, once by the police at 9.46pm but no response was obtained. A police officer heard a dog barking when he returned at 9.30am on the Friday.

Mr Joyce said the girl “held a grudge” against Liz Edwards and agreed with the boy to kill both her and her daughter Katie.

He said: “They were serious in their intention. They meant it to happen.

“On the Tuesday they met at McDonald’s and further discussed their plan.”

Mr Joyce said that the boy took four knives to the house in his back pack.

Originally the plan was that the boy was to kill Liz Edwards and the girl would kill 13-year-old Katie but the killings were both carried out by the boy.

The boy stabbed Liz Edwards in the throat as he pinned her down while kneeling astride her.

“The girl was able to hear Liz Edwards struggling and gurgling signs while the killing took place. She went into the bedroom and saw the boy with a pillow over Liz Edwards’ head.

“There were blood splatters on the wall and also blood in the floor and blood on the bed. The boy checked that Mrs Edwards was dead by checking her pulse.”

Mr Joyce said the boy then went into Katie Edwards’ bedroom and stabbed her.

“It seems probable that Katie was also smothered with a pillow and from the position of her body may have tried to move away from her attacker.

The bodies of Liz and Katie were found after police forced their way into the house amid concerns that the mother and daughter had not been seen.

The 14-year-olds were arrested and the girl later told police they had formed the plan to carry out the killings the previous Saturday.

“She added that it has all happened quite quickly and it wasn’t torture which gave her peace of mind.

“During the planning they had discussed how to kill them and had spoken about stabbing them in their necks, in their voice boxes so they would not make a noise.”

Mr Joyce said a post-mortem examination revealed Liz Edwards has been stabbed twice to the neck cutting her jugular vein. She was also stabbed to the right shoulder and had cuts on her hands which may have been inflicted as she attempted to fight off her attacker.

Katie Edwards died from a haemorrhage to the neck and smothering.

Mr Joyce said: “The prosecution case is that the girl is as guilty of murder as the boy. She together with him planned and carried out the cold, calculated and callous killings. She has shown no hint of remorse.”

The girl denies two charges of murder between April 12 and 15 this year. The boy has admitted two charges of murder.

The trial continues.