Teenage killers 'fully agreed' on double murder plan

The teenage couple who brutally murdered a mother and her 13-year-old daughter in their beds were 'fully agreed' on their murder plan.

Nottingham Crown court heard how the pair, who were both aged 14 at the time, mapped out a plan to stab the victims and then share a bath to clean off "inevitable" blood. They had also planned to take their own lives after the killings but then 'changed their minds'.

They are thought to be Britain's youngest couple to ever be convicted of murder.

Elizabeth Edwards, a school dinner lady, and her 13-year-old daughter, Katie, were stabbed in the throat by the boy, and smothered at their home in Spalding, Lincolnshire.

Mrs Edwards was attacked first in an ordeal said by the girl to have lasted for around 10 minutes. Katie was was then killed in her own room by the boy, moments after he asked his girlfriend if she wanted to go through with the plan.

Their bodies were found on April 15th when police forced entry to the house in Dawson Avenue.

When the pair were arrested, the girl made a full admissions to police, giving them a step-by-step account of the murders and their planning.

The girl told detectives the plan was fully agreed between her and her boyfriend. Both teenagers were charged with two counts of murder. The boy admitted both murders at Nottingham Crown Court in October but the girl admitted manslaughter and denied murder.

Prosecutor Peter Joyce QC told the court that the girl accepted that although the boy stabbed the victims, she was equally responsible for the murders, having planned them and helped to carry them out.

He told the jury the only issue in the case was whether the girl had a defence of diminished responsibility.

The girl, now aged 15, was found guilty after jurors reject evidence that she was mentally ill at the time of the killings.

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Holvey said the attacks had a "shocking impact" on the community.

He added: "This case has left a number of lives in ruins, not only Elizabeth and Katie's families but also the two juveniles who committed this horrendous crime.

"What makes this case even more shocking is that these two were aged just 14 when they planned and committed these callous, senseless, and unprovoked attacks on Elizabeth and Katie."

The local vicar, rev Mike Chesher, paid this tribute to Mrs Edwards, who regularly attended St Paul's church.