Woman denies leaving friend for dead in flat

A woman has denied murdering her friend and leaving her body undiscovered in her home for a month, describing her as a "cracking girl".

Prosecutors allege that Helen Bloomfield, 52, was murdered by Amy Keely, 40, and Charlotte James, 29,at her flat in Braintree, Essex, in March 2024.

During her trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, Keely denied she ever bragged about killing Bloomfield.

James, of St Michael's Lane, Braintree, and Keely, of no fixed address, have been on trial since 8 September.

"Helen was my friend - she was a cracking girl - I have no need to have an argument with [her]," she told jurors.

Julian Evans KC, prosecuting, has said the defendants ransacked her home and smothered her with a pillow "at some point" after 01:00 GMT on 20 March at the victim's flat at Godric Place in Aetheric Road.

Bloomfield suffered 44 injuries including stab and cut wounds, he explained, and her body was not discovered at her home until 19 April.

She was a vulnerable woman who had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act in the past, Evans added.

Keely, who said she lived in a van, told the court she met Bloomfield in 2022 and would often drink together and take drugs at her friend's home.

Sasha Wass KC, defending, said four witnesses reported Keely had been "bragging" about killing Bloomfield.

But Keely told the jury: "They lie - everybody's names have been in these people's mouths.

"They don't like me - I have not done or said any of these things that they said I have - it is all lies."

Keely said she had been taking drugs for the past 20 years and by 2024 was smoking crack cocaine every day and also injected heroin.

She claimed she last took heroin at Bloomfield's flat in either February or March, and Keely said her blood must have been found in the home - including on broken pieces of mirror - because of drug-taking.

Keely said she knocked on Bloomfield's door a week later and explained: "If she wasn't about - everyone had automatically thought that she had been sectioned."

She said she was "gutted" when she learnt of Bloomfield's death.

Evans argued the pair took their anger out on the victim because they could not find either money or drugs.

"The mood took a very dark turn and it led to you ransacking that flat and you turned it upside down," said the prosecutor, adding that they "left her for dead".

Evans said the pair washed off blood in the bathroom before they helped themselves to "some breakfast cereals" - leaving "Cheerios streaming across the surfaces".

Keely denied this and the trial continues.

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