A mum-of-three has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering her partner. Abigail White was found to have murdered Bradley Lewis. White, 24 - she had previously made £50,000 in a year on online streaming platform OnlyFans, where users can buy and sell content..
She pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Bradley in March but pleaded not guilty to his murder. After a two-week trial at Bristol Crown Court a jury of six women and four men convicted her of murder. Trial judge The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser jailed her for life with a minimum jail term of 18 years. The judge sentenced White immediately. He told her: "My view is you did intend to kill."
Anna Vigars KC, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court on March 25 this year Bradley was heard to tell White: "I don't want to be with you anymore, Abi." Later Bradley went to the Horseshoe pub on Siston Common with White and friends, Bristol Live reports.
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White had previously made £50,000 in a year on online streaming platform OnlyFans, where users can buy and sell content. At the pub a witness spoke of how White was obviously in a "difficult mood". The jury was told she was causing trouble with other people, getting into arguments and physical fights and giving Bradley grief.
At about 7.50pm they left the pub and went home, the court heard. But Mrs Vigars told the jury: "By ten past eight she was ringing the ambulance service and then screaming for a neighbour to come to the house, panicking and crying out for help.
"Because by ten past eight, Abigail White had stabbed Bradley Lewis through the chest, pushing the knife between his ribs and ultimately into his heart."
White told the jury she and Bradley were in between her hall and living room and she went to the kitchen, possibly to walk away from a confrontation, and saw a knife on the side. She said she wanted to scare Bradley, picked the knife up, and returned to the hall.
She described holding the knife with the blade pointing down - like it had been when she previously stabbed him in the arm. She said she went up to Bradley and thrust the knife at his chest - but didn't realise she had done that until afterwards.
She said she was "upset angry." Fighting back tears, she said she had not meant to really hurt or kill him. White told the court: "It was just over before I even thought." She said she cleaned Bradley's blood from the kitchen.
She regretted later lying about what happened to her neighbour and police, saying she had done so because she had been worried. White repeated to the jury she didn't want to hurt or kill Bradley, telling them: "It just happened."
Dr Sanya Krljes, a clinical psychologist, said more than 99 percent of people would be better at controlling their anger than White. She said White had very little coping strategy for controlling her anger and had a condition meant when roused the thinking part of her brain shut down.
Dr Bradley Hillier, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, told the jury White suffers from borderline personality disorder. He said White's account of what happened was consistent with her having the disorder with emotionally unstable traits.
Dr Hillier said she was highly likely to have been in a crisis at the time of killing Bradley. He said, ultimately, what happened was in the hands of the jury but it was consistent with White having a defence of diminished responsibility.
Lesley Ness, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The prosecution’s case was that Abigail White stabbed Bradley Lewis in anger, intending to seriously hurt or kill him, following an argument in which he said he would leave her. Mr Lewis died in hospital of a single stab wound to the heart and Miss White initially told staff he had injured himself.
"She later admitted to killing Mr Lewis, pleading guilty to manslaughter but denying murder. The CPS worked with the police to build a compelling case that looked at Miss White’s actions both on the night of Mr Lewis’ death and in the period leading up to it.
"When presented with this evidence the jury concluded that Abigail White was guilty of the murder of Bradley Lewis. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Bradley Lewis at this difficult time.”
Senior Investigating Officer DI Ben Lavender said: “Bradley was a much-loved young man, a father, with his whole life ahead of him. Abigail White cruelly snatched that life away by her callous and selfish actions.
“In her initial account, she tried to claim Bradley stabbed himself, which was a cruel lie, but due to the evidence gathered by our team she admitted a charge of manslaughter at a previous court hearing. This trial was held because the prosecution maintained she had murdered Bradley, and this was backed up by the jury’s verdict.
“We were determined to carry out a thorough and painstaking investigation to achieve justice for Bradley – with our team of officers and police staff gathering and reviewing evidence, including CCTV footage, an extensive number of social media posts and voice messages, as well as taking more than 200 statements and carrying out seven video-recorded interviews.
“My thoughts, and the thoughts of the whole policing team, are with Bradley’s family, who have shown tremendous dignity and courage throughout. Their loss is unimaginable, and I hope this outcome will help them to feel the person responsible for his death has now been brought to justice.
“I want to thank all those who provided statements and information during our investigation, as well as the local community, who were clearly impacted by the gravity of this offence, but who supported us as we carried out enquiries at the scene and in their local area.”
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