Axe killer describes 'hate' for victim

Jan Charlton has admitted killing her partner

A former escort girl who hacked her partner to death with an axe told a jury it was like "swatting a fly".

Former escort girl Jan Charlton, 36, said she attacked Danny O'Brien after he had threatened to kill her three-year-old daughter Amy.

Jan Charlton told a jury at Leeds Crown Court that she had felt numb after hitting him at least 20 times with the weapon.

She admits killing Mr O'Brien in the bedroom of their luxury home in Midgley, West Yorkshire, on 23 May, 2001, but denies murder, claiming self defence and provocation.

'Felt numb'

She said the killing came after she had agreed to have sex with Mr O'Brien to calm him down on the day he was killed.

Asked by Robert Smith QC, defending, what her feelings were following the killing she said: "By that time I felt nothing. I was numb. I knew when I was hitting him I just pure hated him."

Danny O'Brien: Sex to "calm him down"

Charlton said she shut the killing out of her mind adding: "I know at that moment in time it was as if I had just swatted a fly. It felt like I hadn't done anything."

The jury has heard that 40-year-old Mr O'Brien was found naked, handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded, with the axe still embedded in his head.

Charlton had earlier told the court the businessman began to threaten her daughter Amy and said he would chop off her own head if she tried to leave the room.

She said she put handcuffs, a blindfold and a gag on him and he was kneeling down with his back to her when she reached for the axe.

'Not Meryl Streep'

Cross examined by Paul Worsley QC, prosecuting, Charlton denied that she had misled police in the days following the killing, adding: "I was in shock."

She denied Mr Worsley's claims that she thought she could "get away with murder".

Charlton went on to reject Mr Worsley's suggestion she had removed any clues showing she was responsible for the killing.

Mr Worsley suggested Charlton was an "actress" who could put on a performance when she liked.

Charlton replied: "I'm not Meryl Streep, no."

The trial continues.