Murder suspect denies playing part in killing

A murder suspect told police she was at the scene when her boyfriend was"tortured" and killed but denied playing any part in the violence, jurorshave heard.

Mark Shaw was tied up, beaten, bitten, gagged, attacked with weapons andstabbed to death at his home in Grange Villa, County Durham, in Decemberlast year.

The 29-year-old suffered multiple injuries across his body in the "sustained" attack, which prosecutors claim was at the hands of his girlfriend Zoe Warren, 19, and neighbour Keiran Adey, 19.

His body was found, still bound at the ankles, in a bedroom at his home.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Warren, who had been Mr Shaw's girlfriend for "just a few days" but had known him previously due to a common association with the Washington area, confessed to her part in the killing to a new man she was a in a relationship with a few weeks later.

It is claimed she even bragged that she had "got away with murder" afterthe attack, jurors heard.

Warren of Chipchase, Washington, Wearside, and Adey, 19, of Queen Street, Grange Villa, both deny murder and are being tried by a jury.

Jurors have heard Adey made no comment to questions put to him bydetectives after the killing.

Warren told police she was at Mr Shaw's house when he was attacked by Adey but said she had no part in it.

She told detectives: "Keiran tortured him that night. What he did was cruel."

The court heard Mr Shaw suffered over 80 injuries to his body, across hishead, torso and limbs.

Warren said she was "in shock" during the attack but "100 per cent" deniedbeing any part of it.

She told police: "I loved Mark to bits, he was my best mate.

"I did everything that night to try and save him and prevent it happening but I failed."

Warren, who was interviewed as a witness and a suspect, told police shefelt Like a "coward" after the killing but had feared her life was also indanger that night.

She added: "I wasn't involved with the murder at all, no way. I didn't assaulthim."

She added during questioning: "I would not end anyone's life".

Warren also denies a charge of intimidation in relation to an angry letter sheallegedly sent to the new man, who she "turned on" after he became a witness in the case.

The trial continues.