Partner admits 'torture' killing

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The partner of a man who was allegedly tortured to death at a County Durham house has admitted killing him.

Andrew Gardner was punched, stamped on, whipped and burnt before his death at Arthur Street, Chilton, in March 2008.

Mr Gardner's partner Clare Nicholls, 28, her brother Simon, 24, and her ex-partner Steven Martin, 44, all of Arthur Street, are accused of murder.

On Thursday Clare Nichols admitted manslaughter but the plea was rejected by the prosecution.

Earlier the mother-of-four accused her brother of joining in the attacks.

She told the court her younger brother Simon had taken part in the brutal attacks on Mr Gardner, which resulted in him suffering more than 100 separate injuries.

He would constantly nod off and just fall asleep Clare Nicholls in evidence

Mr Gardner, 35, was repeatedly punched, kicked, stamped on, whipped and burnt in the weeks leading up to his death in March last year.

The trial at Teesside Crown Court has heard that his torturers had even played a "grotesque" game of noughts and crosses on Mr Gardner's stomach.

Giving evidence, Clare Nicholls accepted she had a violent personality and admitted she had regularly hit her former partners, including the father of her three oldest children.

But she denied she was solely responsible for the injuries inflicted upon Mr Gardner, although she said she would regularly punch and slap him.

She told jurors her brother was also responsible for jumping on Mr Gardner's ribs, along with her.

Repeated blows

Nicholls explained she regularly lost her temper with Mr Gardner because she was house proud and he was untidy and had poor personal hygiene.

Questioned by her barrister Robert Woodcock QC, she admitted using her knees to land repeated blows on Mr Gardner's ribs.

Nicholls said she would also get angry at Mr Gardner because he would constantly fall asleep during the day while looking after their baby daughter.

She said: "He would just sit in one particular spot that he always sat in, which would be on the floor near the fireguard.

"He would constantly nod off and just fall asleep."

The court heard Clare Nicholls had grown up in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and had moved to the north-east of England when she was in her teens.

The trial continues.