January 31, 2022 12.11 pm This story is over 37 months old

Boston murder trial continues one juror down after positive COVID-19 case

Eleven jurors will now consider the case
20-year-old Christopher Higgs from Spalding was named as the victim.

The trial of a Boston woman accused of murdering her partner is continuing with eleven jurors.

Charlie Stevenson, 21, of Portland Street, Boston, is on trial at Lincoln Crown Court. The prosecution allege Ms Stevenson deliberately stabbed her partner, Christopher Higgs, also 21, with a kitchen knife at her home in Portland Street.

Ms Stevenson’s trial was halted for two days last week after one of the 12 jurors hearing the case tested positive for COVID-19.

Judge Simon Hirst discharged the juror on Monday morning after being told they were still testing positive.

Judge Hirst ruled the trial will now continue with 11 jurors who will consider the murder charge faced by Ms Stevenson when the case concludes next week.

Mr Higgs, from Spalding, was found with a single stab wound to his heart after Ms Stevenson called the ambulance service to her property on July 14.

The couple had been in a long term relationship and had a young child together.

But Mr Higgs, who was living in Spalding, should not have been staying at the house because of a bail condition from a previous domestic incident involving Ms Stevenson.

The jury this morning (Monday, January 31) heard evidence from an intelligence analyst who was asked to look at telephone communications between Ms Stevenson and Mr Higgs by East Midlands Special Operations Unit.

Naomi Crowther told the jury she was asked to produce a sequence of events after examining phone data, text messages, Facebook messenger posts and Snapchat messages between the pair.

It is alleged Ms Stevenson stabbed Mr Higgs in the kitchen before he staggered into the front room where he was found collapsed by paramedics.

Ms Stevenson denies murder and told the 999 operator that Mr Higgs had slipped and fallen on the knife, the jury heard.

She also told a police officer called to the house Mr Higgs wasn’t allowed there because of domestic abuse and had stabbed himself.

Ms Stevenson, 21, of Portland Street, Boston, denies murder on July 14, 2021.

The trial continues.