Mother's partner murder planned

Maxine Williams denies stabbing Bernard Evans during a row

A woman accused of murdering her mother's partner was a "goal-directed" killer who planned it in advance, a jury at Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Maxine Williams, 22, from Pembrey, west Wales is accused of stabbing Bernard Evans, 42, with a kitchen knife at his home in Ammanford.

Williams, 22, denies a single charge of murder.

Police used a taser gun to restrain her when she fled into the garden after the killing, the court has been told.

She declined to give evidence herself, but called forensic psychiatrist Dr Gaynor Jones at the start of her brief defence.

In a report, Dr Jones said Ms Williams, who has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, suffered from depression, although possibly not at the time of the attack in January.

We know that after she did it, she was pleased with what she had done, because she said so Prosecutor Elwen Evans QC

Under questioning, Dr Jones agreed that Ms Williams, who at one point claimed Mr Evans repeatedly raped her and that her mother was the real killer, was "horrendously unreliable".

She also acknowledged that, despite suffering from depression, Williams was capable of being "goal-directed".

Elwen Evans QC, summing up the case against Ms Williams on Thursday, reminded the jury of this fact.

'Carve him up'

Ms Williams had boasted to several different people on occasions in the week before the attack that she would kill Mr Evans.

Her brother, Wayne Williams, 16, testified that she had boasted she would "carve him up" if he did not move out of her mother's home.

Ms Evans told the jury: "She said that she would kill Mr Evans.

"Of course, you could think that it is the sort of thing that lots of people say in the heat of the situation.

"Unfortunately, it is not something that most people follow through."

She added: "We know that she did it, saying that she was going to do it.

"We know that after she did it, she was pleased with what she had done, because she said so.

"That is goal-directed behaviour before, during and after. We have the clearest possible evidence of what Maxine Williams intended to do that night."

Her summing up of the prosecution case is due to conclude on Friday when Paul Thomas QC, for the defence, will make his closing speech.

High court judge Mr Justice Davis is due to start his summing up on Monday.

The trial continues.