Clarence Mitchell on proceedings in the emotional court case

Denise Franklin broke down in tears after more than 90 minutes in the witness box describing how she found the body of murdered teenager Billie-Jo Jenkins.

Deputy head teacher Sion Jenkins, 40, denies murdering 13-year-old Billie-Jo with an 18-inch metal tent spike as she painted patio doors at the family home in Hastings.

Sion Jenkins arrives at Lewes Crown Court

Mrs Franklin told the court how she ran to the family's home after receiving a desperate phone call from Jenkins shortly after returning from a day out with her own family.

The court heard Jenkins had not known what he could do to help his foster daughter, found moments earlier lying face down in a pool of blood.

Mrs Franklin, who had been close friends with Sion Jenkins's wife Lois and the rest of the family for more than two years, said: "Sion said, `It's Billie-Jo, there's been an accident and I don't know what to do.'"

After finding the teenager's body Mrs Franklin desperately searched for a pulse while Sion Jenkins was in a playroom comforting his two daughters Annie, 12, and Lottie, 10, as they cried and screamed in bewilderment.

Mrs Franklin said she had gone to fetch a towel to place on the side of Billie-Jo's head, which had been lying on a black binliner.

She said: "Then I saw what was actually wrong. I could see not only was there blood in the plastic bag but there were pieces of flesh that looked like liver.

"And then I looked at her head and I saw it was her skull, it was just like pieces of ice, jagged like that. It was obvious that she could not be alive then."

As Mrs Franklin knelt over Billie-Jo's body her checks for a pulse on the schoolgirl's paint-covered hand and her neck proved negative, the court was told.

Mr Camden Pratt QC, prosecuting, asked the family friend if there had been any other signs of life. Mrs Jenkins said there was not.

Mrs Franklin said this had seemed to be a natural reaction. She said: "The situation was that Lottie and Annie were screaming and in need of comforting."

Billie-Jo was killed while painting patio doors at the family home

After more than 90 minutes in the witness box Mrs Franklin broke down in tears as she was shown photographs of Billie-Jo's body lying on the patio.

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Anthony Scrivener QC, Mrs Franklin described how Sion Jenkins had been wearing a blue fleece as she hugged him after being told Billie-Jo was dead.

The court had heard earlier that the deputy head teacher's fleece jacket had been found by forensic scientists to be dotted with microscopic spots of the teenager's blood.

The family friend was also aware Sion and his wife Lois had been worried that their home was being targeted by prowlers in the weeks before the killing, the court heard.

Another earlier statement given to police by Mrs Franklin had mentioned the fact of her husband fitting extra security locks to the Jenkins's home.