Girl 'filmed parental murder bid'

A schoolgirl filmmaker filmed herself as she attempted to murder her parents in their living room, a court heard.

The girl, who was aged 15 at the time, tried to choke her mother with a length of cord, Cambridge Crown Court heard.

She then attempted to stab her father with a pair of scissors as he came to his wife's aid, jurors were told.

The teenager, who cannot be named, denies two counts of attempted murder at the family home in St Neots on 24 February last year.

She also pleads not guilty to a charge of attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle her mother with intent and attempting to unlawfully wound her father with intent.

In the video, which was played to the court, the girl films herself in her bedroom dressed in a silk nightgown as she discusses what she plans to do to her parents.

Prosecution say she attempted to kill them - she failed John Farmer, prosecuting

The film then switches to the downstairs living room where the girl walks up to her mother, who is sitting down, and loops a length of cord around her neck, it was said.

The girl's mother is heard to tell her, "You are strangling me," before telling her husband: "She is strangling me."

The father then appears in view as he makes his way towards his wife and daughter.

As he faces the girl, there is a sudden movement and he screams out: "You tried to stab me."

John Farmer, prosecuting, said: "Prosecution say she attempted to kill them - she failed."

"It's perhaps a horrifying thought that a child may wish to kill their parents."

'Cold-blooded'

The court heard how on the day of the alleged attack the defendant, described as "highly intelligent" by Mr Farmer, went to her bedroom after an argument with her father.

Mr Farmer told jurors she put on her best silk nightgown for writing out a "game plan", which involved taking the video camera downstairs "with a view to filming herself killing her parents".

Mr Farmer added: "It's a pretty cold-blooded measured plan."

The girl then returned to her bedroom, Mr Farmer said.

She recorded herself on camera saying: "I am disappointed that the plan failed. I should have been quicker. The scissors weren't good enough. A knife would have worked. I will have to try again."

Police arrested the girl in March 2007.

The trial continues.