Woman who 'murdered boyfriend' says he 'choked her during sex until she passed out'

A woman accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death has said he liked to choke her during sex until she passed out.

Hayley Keating, 31, said she awoke on one occasion to find Matthew Wormleighton, 45, being intimate with her and that "it felt like rape".

She is charged with murdering Mr Wormleighton, who died from a single stab wound to the chest at her home in Chilthorne Domer, Somerset, on 14 May last year.

Keating denies murder.

Her trial at Bristol Crown Court heard on Monday that Keating called 999 and told a handler: "Oh my God.

"I've stabbed him and now he's ******* dying. I have stabbed the **** and now he's dying.

"I just thrown a knife at him because I was angry and now he's ******* dying. Please get here now."

Keating told the court that Mr Wormleighton liked to strangle her during sex until she was unconscious.

She said the couple would have "rough sex".

She added: "Sometimes he would choke me out, I would pass out.

"Sometimes he would do it with his hands. Sometimes he would do it with a belt, quickly around my head in a loop.

"I would be on all fours and he was behind me. I would pass out and it was scary coming back round.

"I didn't really say anything, I just told him to be careful. I was okay with it, he liked it, he liked doing it.

"Being totally out didn't do anything for me. I was happy to do things for him."

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She said there was one occasion when she regained consciousness to find Mr Wormleighton being intimate with her, and said she told him "it felt like rape". She said he left her for a while afterwards.

Keating said there were times when she viewed him as "lovely". She said he looked after her when she had an issue with her mental health.

Keating is accused of stabbing Mr Wormleighton in the chest with a kitchen knife after an argument.

Home Office pathologist, Dr Amanda Jeffery, told the court the 20cm blade passed between two ribs and penetrated deep into Mr Wormleighton's left lung, causing significant vascular injury and fatal blood loss.

Dr Jeffery said that after Keating made the 999 call it took medics 28 minutes to arrive at the scene and start treatment. But Dr Jeffery told the court: "I don't think it was survivable."

A minimum of mild force caused the wound, the court heard, but Dr Jeffery said: "The likelihood of a knife being thrown, penetrating to a 10cm depth, is slim but should not be considered impossible.

"It is more likely to have been caused by a held in the hand stabbing motion into the body."

The trial continues.