Good evening, these are the latest ECHO headlines on Friday, May 13.
Ring doorbell trial: Man cleared of murdering burglar
A man accused of murdering a burglar has been cleared as a jury failed to reach a verdict on the charges against his brother.
READ MORE: Police name woman found dead in flat
Karl Townsend and Jamie Cunningham were on trial accused of murdering Jordan Brophy in Halewood after he and three other men broke into the home Townsend shared with his partner and their child. The 32-year-old was alerted to the break-in after the Ring doorbell installed in his home was activated by the burglars and sent an alert to Townsend’s phone.
Prosecutors alleged Townsend and Cunningham went armed with knives to the house and that Townsend then stabbed Mr Brophy in the house before later knifing him in the jugular. Richard Pratt, QC, prosecuting, described Mr Brophy’s death as an attack carried out by Townsend for “revenge or punishment” and said Cunningham was crucial in carrying it out.
Townsend, 32, admitted causing Mr Brophy’s death but said he was acting in self defence during the incident and feared for the safety of his partner and their child. Townsend and his half brother have both been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court for the last three weeks.
Coleen admits she 'didn't know' if her marriage with Wayne would work out
Coleen Rooney spoke out about her marriage woes with Wayne during her libel trial with Rebekah Vardy.
The 40-year-old made the comments in relation to a post on her private Instagram with Wayne and the kids in 2017. Although the post was not printed in The S*n, an image of her and the kids that she posted on her public Instagram was used with only a reference to the Wayne picture.
Rooney is being sued for libel by Vardy after her now-famous Wagatha Christie tweet, in which she accused the fellow WAG of leaking information from her private Instagram account. Hugh Tomlinson QC, for Vardy, was asking Rooney about the personal information she alleges was shared with The S*n newspaper by his client.
At the time, speculation was rife the pair had split after Wayne was stopped by police for drink-driving with party-goer Laura Simpson in Cheshire. Coleen was heavily pregnant with the couple’s fourth child at the time.
Sick woman wanted to 'eat children' after sexually abusing them with two men
A sick woman said she wanted to "eat children" after sexually abusing them with two men.
"Depraved" Vicki Bevan carried out some of her appalling sexual fantasies alongside Paul Rafferty and Tony Hutton by raping and abusing a young girl. Bevan, from St Helens, also spent time discussing with another man their desire to “kidnap, rape, torture, kill and then eat children” after sexually abusing them.
Bevan, 37, filmed and photographed the girl being abused and the images were shared on line - which led to their downfall when they were found on a mobile phone. Liverpool Crown Court heard Bevan was caught out after police seized the phone from a man, not before the court, which revealed 458 pages of highly sexualised WhatsApp conversations with Bevan and indecent images.
Judge Andrew Menary, QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, said: "The contents of some of those chats is truly, truly shocking. Even allowing for some people’s capacity for perversion - some of these conversations are beyond disturbing."
