'No doubt' woman killed by friends, say prosecutors

Jurors have been told there should be no doubt in their minds that a vulnerable woman was stabbed and smothered with a pillow by her friends in her own home.

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

Keely, of St Michael's Lane in the town, denied she ever bragged about killing Bloomfield.

During his closing speech at Chelmsford Crown Court, Julian Evans KC, prosecuting, said: "There is no doubt Helen Bloomfield was murdered."

Evans said the defendants had gone to Bloomfield's home in the Godric Place block on Aetheric Road in the early hours of 20 March with "a very clear intention in mind" and wanted to cause the victim "really serious harm".

He went on to say that Keely had stabbed her with a sharp implement - possibly a screwdriver or a knife - and James smothered her with a pillow. James, of no fixed address, and Keely both deny murder.

Evans told jurors that Bloomfield had died "there and then and the defendants knew that" and that afterwards the defendants had gone into the kitchen and had eaten Cheerios breakfast cereal.

Bloomfield's body was not discovered until 19 April, and she had 44 injuries including stab and cut wounds, the prosecutor said.

Keely and James had "ransacked the property" looking for money or drugs and turned their anger towards Bloomfield when neither were found, Evans told the jury.

Bloomfield lived on her own and had been struggling with her mental health since her husband died in 2021.

She had been previously sectioned under the Mental Health Act and had started taking cocaine after she was widowed.

In a statement previously read out in court, Bloomfield's mother said her daughter "became friendly with the street drinkers in Braintree" and she claimed that it had made her "vulnerable".

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.

Evans claimed that Keely would take advantage of Bloomfield because she knew she could take drugs at the home, but the defendant previously said that the pair were close friends.

The trial continues.

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