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Braintree murder accused denies killing friend
BBC • • world
Key Points:
- Amy Keely and Charlotte James are on trial for the alleged murder of their friend Helen Bloomfield, whose body was found a month after her death in March 2024 at her flat in Braintree, Essex.
- Prosecutors claim the defendants smothered Bloomfield with a pillow and inflicted 44 injuries, including stab and cut wounds, after ransacking her home in a drug- and money-fueled rage.
- Keely denies the allegations, describing Bloomfield as a "cracking girl" and asserting that she did not harm her, attributing the presence of her blood in the flat to shared drug use.
- Bloomfield was a vulnerable woman with a history of mental health issues and had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act previously.
- The prosecution contends that the defendants left Bloomfield "for dead" after their violent attack, with her body undiscovered until nearly a month later.
