'Jealous' ex-girlfriend stabbed father-of-six in the heart on Christmas Day after seeing his Tinder profile, court hears

Daily Mail​

5 days ago

A 'jealous' ex-girlfriend stabbed a father-of-six in the heart on Christmas Day after seeing his Tinder profile, a court has heard.
Kirsty Carless, 33, was 'fuelled by cocaine and alcohol ' when she took a taxi from her home in Cannock, Staffordshire, to her ex Louis Price's parents's house in Norton Canes and plunged a kitchen knife into his chest, Stafford Crown Court was told.
She made the trip at 3am on December 25, 2024, after a friend had showed her Mr Price's dating app profile, despite being on police bail after allegedly strangling him on November 11, 2024.
Carless, who appeared in the dock wearing a white shirt with her hair in a ponytail, denies murdering Mr Price, 31, and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
She also denies one count of intentional strangling and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the claim she strangled Mr Price the month before the alleged stabbing.
In his opening speech on Tuesday, prosecution counsel Jonas Hankin KC said Mr Price had been considered by police to be 'at very high risk of domestic abuse' before his death.
He said the pair had been in a 'dysfunctional, abusive and highly volatile relationship which began in 2021' and was 'characterised by a cycle of separation and reconciliation'.
In text messages sent to Mr Price the day before his death, Carless said 'I hate u... I wish you was dead'.
The court heard Carless had been at the pub drinking double vodka and Cokes with a male friend on December 24 who she later had sex with three times at his home.
At around 1.30am on Christmas Day, a female friend sent her a screenshot of Mr Price's Tinder profile.
'When she received this Tinder profile, things changed,' Mr Hankin said.
'The prosecution say the defendant's actions were motivated by anger and jealousy, fuelled by cocaine and alcohol abuse.
'Her behaviour simply reflects her volatile, aggressive personality.'
While she had been due to stay at the male friend's home, she instead called a taxi back to her flat before calling Mr Price 45 times between 2.15am and 2.44am.
The only pause in her 'barrage' of phone calls was to phone another cab to take her to Mr Price's parents house where he had been staying in a caravan in the garden.
Impatient for the taxi to arrive, she called the cab company two more times to check where it was, Mr Hankin said.
Members of Mr Price's family sobbed in the public gallery as CCTV was played showing the moment Carless arrived at the house just after 3am and 'stalked' him around the garden as he held his chest.
She had initially gone upstairs to the property's spare bedroom where she had expected to find Mr Price with another woman, Mr Hankin said.
He told the jury, of seven men and five women: 'The defendant stabbed Louis Price, her ex-partner, in the heart with a kitchen knife more than a foot long.
'The blade penetrated 12cm into his chest, cutting through skin, muscle, rib cartilage, lung tissue and the heart.
'He died rapidly on the floor of the conservatory in his parents' home.'
He added: 'The defendant is charged with murder. The prosecution say that she intended to kill Mr Price and in order to prove the offence of murder, we have to prove she intended to at least cause really serious harm.
'We say, what else can she have intended, when she drove this knife into the chest of her ex-partner?
'The evidence will show that the defendant had taken that knife with her to the scene for the specific purpose of stabbing her ex-partner.'
Mr Hankin said the taxi driver reported that around 30 seconds after Carless let herself into the property with a key, he heard a 'very loud and prolonged' scream from a man and that he 'sounded scared'.
Less than two minutes after arriving at the scene, Carless was 'anxious and sweating' as she got back into the taxi and demanded the driver take her to her parents' home, where she allegedly admitted what she had done and 999 was called.
'The evidence shows, the prosecution say, that Kirsty Carless was manipulative, emotionally volatile and jealous,' Mr Hankin said.
'Her harmful use of alcohol and cocaine worsened her behaviour and the effects of intoxication intensified the negative traits of her personality.'
The trial continues.