Woman accused of murder tells jury she was 'too terrified' to tell cops boyfriend was the killer

A woman accused of helping to plot the murder of an electrician told a jury she was 'too terrified' to tell police her new boyfriend was the killer, but went on holiday to Jamaica with him days later.

Rachel Fulstow, 37, said the first she knew Liam Smith, 38, had come to harm was when her boyfriend Michael Hillier, 39, turned up at her home after the fatal attack.

Mr Smith had been lured from his home in Wigan, shot in the face then had sulphuric acid poured over him as he lay dying, Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard.

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The father-of-two was declared dead at the scene, last November 24.

Six days later, Ms Fulstow and Hillier, who both deny murder, flew out to Jamaica for a two-week break, the court heard.

Mr Smith’s murder was allegedly prompted by a 'one-night stand' between him and Fulstow, at a York hotel in 2019, which angered her new boyfriend Hillier – who she met more than a year later, the trial has heard.

The jury heard Hillier was 'led to believe' the one-night stand arranged on Tinder was a 'non-consensual' sexual encounter, jurors have been told.

Louise Blackwell KC, defending Hillier, said she wanted to examine the, 'fear, love and lies' Ms Fulstow had told the jury about in her relationship with Hillier, who she first met online, in December 2022, on the dating app Hinge.

Fulstow told the jury when she first visited his house on Eccleshall Road, Sheffield, it was a 'mess' with his dining room and two upstairs rooms containing tents to aid his cannabis grows.

She denied Hillier 'paid for everything' on nights out, at restaurants and on numerous trips they enjoyed in the UK and internationally.

Ms Blackwell said: “You