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| Catherine Wells-Burr murder accused 'comforted by her mother' | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| A factory worker on trial for murdering his girlfriend was comforted by her mother as she lay dead in her burnt-out car, a court has heard. | |
| Rafal Nowak, 31, told Catherine Wells-Burr's mother, Jayne, that he had "lost his world and his future". | |
| The Polish national's former partner Anna Lagwinowicz, 32, and uncle Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, 38, helped him put the body in a car and set it on fire, the jury was told. | The Polish national's former partner Anna Lagwinowicz, 32, and uncle Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, 38, helped him put the body in a car and set it on fire, the jury was told. |
| All three deny murder. | All three deny murder. |
| Mr Nowak is accused of killing his 23-year-old girlfriend as she slept - most probably by suffocating her with a pillow, the court heard. | |
| Ms Lagwinowicz, and Mr Dmytryszyn, 38, are accused of driving the business analyst's body to a nearby roadside, placing her in the driver seat of her red Ford Focus and setting the car alight with petrol. | |
| The prosecution alleges Mr Nowak hatched the plot with his former lover - with whom he is accused of rekindling a romance - and her uncle to get his hands on Miss Wells-Burr's six-figure life insurance policy, Bristol Crown Court was told. | |
| Mrs Wells-Burr said Mr Nowak was treated like a member of their family and he called her "mummy". | |
| "I cuddled him and I said Catherine loved him," she told the court. | |
| "He said he hoped so and then he said he had lost his future, he had lost his world." | |
| Richard Smith QC told jurors that Miss Wells-Burr went to bed as normal on the night of 11 September. | Richard Smith QC told jurors that Miss Wells-Burr went to bed as normal on the night of 11 September. |
| 'Murderously awake' | 'Murderously awake' |
| "The sensible inference that we will be inviting you to conclude at the end of this case, from all the evidence, is she never probably woke up," said Mr Smith. | "The sensible inference that we will be inviting you to conclude at the end of this case, from all the evidence, is she never probably woke up," said Mr Smith. |
| He said while she slept Ms Lagwinowicz and Mr Dmytryszyn made their way to join Mr Nowak. | He said while she slept Ms Lagwinowicz and Mr Dmytryszyn made their way to join Mr Nowak. |
| "And so the early hours arrived," Mr Smith said. "Catherine is asleep, Nowak is murderously awake and his two accomplices have arrived in Chard. | |
| "It may be that she was suffocated with a pillow, that is a possible scenario. | "It may be that she was suffocated with a pillow, that is a possible scenario. |
| "Such was the state of her body that in those circumstances it is difficult to be certain. | |
| "Nowak was painfully aware that it had to be a quiet killing because of the paper-thin walls - screams and violence would be noticed. | "Nowak was painfully aware that it had to be a quiet killing because of the paper-thin walls - screams and violence would be noticed. |
| "Suffocated with a pillow may possibly meet that requirement." | "Suffocated with a pillow may possibly meet that requirement." |
| Miss Wells-Burr's body was found in her burnt-out Ford Focus near the home she shared with the accused. | Miss Wells-Burr's body was found in her burnt-out Ford Focus near the home she shared with the accused. |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |