By Sammie Jones-
A man charged with murdering his girlfriend in a knife attack in Solihull earlier accused another woman of sleeping with her, a court has heard.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court heard that Ian Bennett made the “deadly serious” accusation to Natasha Gates after they met in a wine bar.
Mr Bennett, 38, of Moordown Avenue, Solihull, has denied murdering 38-year-old Kerry Woolley, who was found dead at her home in July 2020.
At an earlier hearing , jurors heard how Mr. Bennet stabbed his girlfriend more than 50 times before his own mother’s dashcam caught him dumping evidence.
Mum-of-two Kerry Woolley was found dead with ‘catastrophic’ injuries in the bedroom of her flat in Solihull, West Midlands, on July 12 last year.
Birmingham Crown Court was told how her boyfriend Ian Bennett, 38, had researched the ‘best way to get revenge on a woman’ before the killing.
The accused’s mother, Lynda Bennett, 63, has pleaded not guilty to charges of perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender.
Birmingham Crown Court was told how her boyfriend Ian Bennett, 38, had researched the ‘best way to get revenge on a woman’ before the killing.
Prosecutor Caroline Godwin QC said that after making the accusation about sleeping with Miss Gates, Bennett would not let the matter go and after an argument attacked Kerry Woolley with two knives at her Westley Heights home.
She suffered “catastrophic” injuries in the attack in which she was stabbed 54 times and Mr Bennett then tried to suffocate her, the court heard.
It was also alleged that Mr Bennett tried to cover up what he had done and that his mother drove him to a canal where he dumped the knives.
Giving evidence, Ms Gates said she met the couple at wine bar on Warwick Road with her then-boyfriend on July 10 2020.
Accused Of Murder: Mr. Benett
‘Controlling and obsessive’ boyfriend Ian Bennett, 38, tried to cover up his actions by ‘weaving a web of deceit’ to lie to the police, it was claimed in a Birmingham court
They got on well, exchanged telephone numbers and invited the couple back to her flat to carry on drinking, she said.
She said Bennett and Mr Griffiths went out to buy more wine leaving her in the flat with Miss Woolley who she talked with in the lounge.
Miss Gates said at one point she received a call from the police.
She said: “Miss Woolley said she was hot so she took her top off. It was a lacy top and she had a crop top underneath.”
A little later, she said Bennett came back to flat and she continued: “I think Kerry was sitting on the sofa.
“He was angry she had no top. His body language was angry and he was waving his arms around.
“He was angry with Kerry for taking her top off.”
It was then that he accused Ms Gates of sleeping with Miss Woolley.
“I was shocked because that had not happened,” she said. “I was fully clothed and I could not believe he thought that could have happened.
“I found it weird and just asked him to leave.
“I think she was shocked as well that he had reacted in that way.”
Miss Gates said she later received some text messages from the defendant which she did not reply to and later blocked him.
She says one of the messages she received was: “You might want to think about moving very quickly.”