Killer buys crisps in nightie moments after stabbed friend bleeds to death

Watch: CCTV shows killer in nightie buying crisps moments after stabbing friend to death

This is the moment a killer calmly walked across a street to her nearby shop, as her friend lay either dying or already dead on the floor of her home.

Keegan Barnes, still wearing her nightie, then used her dead friend's bank card to buy snacks and a lottery ticket.

Having stabbed Toni Butler twice in the leg, Barnes was described as being “hollow or on auto pilot” by shop assistant Georgia Sharpe, as she wandered in to the One Stop shop at 7.30am on 10 June last year.

It is not known if Butler was already dead when Barnes walked around the shop, but experts believe that Butler suffered catastrophic blood loss some time between 4.17am and 12.30pm that day, after her posterior tibial vein was severed.

Barnes was convicted by a jury at Teesside Crown Court of killing her 25-year-old friend and on Monday was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

She was convicted of manslaughter, but cleared of murder.

Footage released by Cleveland Police also shows Butler's last moments as she walked down an alley.

The court heard that Barnes claimed she was intoxicated at the time of the attack and had been acting in self-defence.

The pair had reportedly argued after Barnes threw a street party.

Emergency services were called to the property, but became suspicious when they heard Barnes' friend, Amelia White say - “tell them what really happened”.

Paramedics saw clothes in the washing machine and noticed that the walls had been freshly painted, and called police.

Barnes told officers that Butler had arrived at her home “off her face”.

Prosecutor Nick Dry told jurors that blood was found across the home and police discovered Butler's blood-covered mobile hidden under a mattress.

He said Barnes had asked her friend: “What have I done? I have f***ed up. What am I going to do?”

He added: “She admitted stabbing Miss Butler and asked Amelia to get the knife from upstairs and hide it in the garden.

“She did as she was requested and the defendant tried to conceal it by placing a table over it outside in the garden.”

Paramedics said the victim’s body was cold when they arrived and she was already dead when Barnes attempted to carry out CPR.

Sentencing Barnes, Judge Nicholas Lavender said: “You stabbed her twice in the leg and she bled to death.

“You have repeatedly shown that you cannot tell the truth about what happened. The two of you had spent much of the previous day together, apparently on friendly terms.

“Yet there appears to have been a fight between you, at some time in the early hours. I do not know who initiated it. Toni was a young woman of 25 and you ended her life. You have brought misery and grief to her family and friends.”

Butler's mother Shelly paid tribute to her daughter in court. She said: “Toni was my first born. She was beautiful, funny, loyal and she had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone.”

Speaking after the sentence, Butler's sister Jade said of her sister’s killer: “She’s not right. There is something wrong with her.”

Senior Investigating Officer, Chief Inspector Peter Carr, said: “Throughout the course of both the investigation and trial, Keegan Barnes has denied any responsibility and shown no remorse for her actions.

“After fatally injuring Toni she attempted to destroy key evidence by cleaning up and lied to attending emergency services to avoid justice.

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“This case should again highlight that the use of knives to cause injury ruins lives. Toni Butler was a young female who had a whole life ahead of her and was loved by both family and friends.

“Throughout the investigation and subsequent trial the family have shown great dignity and resolve. I would like to commend them for the bravery they have shown.”

Chris Atkinson, Head of the Crown Court Unit at CPS North East, added: “From the point at which she killed Toni Butler, Keegan Barnes has made every effort to hide what she had done.

“While her friend lay dying, Barnes’ primary concern appears to have been one of self-preservation, attempting to dispose of key evidence rather than calling for emergency services.

“When police were finally called, Keegan Barnes began spinning a web of lies with the sole aim of minimising her own involvement in Toni’s death."

As forensic scientist Michelle Walton testified "there had been a clean-up operation" going on in Keegan Barnes' house.

Barnes had even claimed that Toni got up and helped clean up some of the blood.