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44-year-old died from serious head injuries at a flat in Greenheys Gardens in February
12:33 pm Neil Docking MINIMUM TERM
Blye stands sobbing in the dock.
He has been jailed for life with a minimum of 19 years.
He says “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” as he is led down.
12:31 pm Neil Docking LIFE SENTENCE
Judge Aubrey says Blye will face a life sentence.
He says the starting point will be increased because of aggravating factors.
He says: “You brutally killed a defenceless and vulnerable woman in her own home.
“The assault was prolonged and vicious.”
He says he used his foot and a weapon that was probably a lead.
Judge Aubrey says it was against the background of domestic violence.
He had just been released from prison for breaching a court order.
He did not take any steps to get medical help.
“You were totally indifferent to her welfare.”
He says he lied and tried to blame another.
The judge says there is little mitigation.
He does not find there was any premeditation as such.
Judge Aubrey says: “This offence was committed in an explosive rage.”
“The offence was committed while you were in a jealous rage in consequence of your misguided perception that she had been unfaithful to you.”
12:30 pm Neil Docking SENTENCING
Judge Aubrey says Blye and Miss Diamond were in a relationship.
He says the relationship was “volatile and turbulent” and he has no doubt “she was in an extremely abusive relationship”.
Judge Aubrey says just 17 days before he killed her he was made subject to a Domestic Violence Prevention Order designed to protect the deceased from him.
Three days later he breached it and was imprisoned.
He says within hours of his release he killed his partner.
He says this aggravates his position, as does the background of domestic abuse perpetrated by him upon his victim.
The order prevented him from going to the Lodge Lane area, which he immediately breached.
He was behaving aggressively.
Judge Aubrey says: “You are a controlling and dominant man who was in a rage in consequence of your perception that your partner was not behaving in the manner that you demanded or expected of her.”
Judge Aubrey says he uttered threats towards her.
He drank to excess and consumed drugs. He was angry and agitated.
Judge Aubrey says only he knows how she died.
He tried to cover his tracks after the “sustained and brutal attack upon her”.
12:20 pm Neil Docking APOLOGY
Mr Tehrani says: “He wishes to apologise to Kay Diamond’s family for having killed her and causing them so much pain and grief.
“He says in all the years he knew her family they showed nothing but kindness towards him.”
12:17 pm Neil Docking INTENT TO KILL
Judge Aubrey says Blye is only entitled to five per cent credit for his late guilty plea.
Mr Tehrani says the defendant claims he had no intent to kill.
He asserts his intent was to cause really serious bodily harm.
Judge Aubrey says he is not going to make a finding on this.
He says Blye will be sentenced on the basis that he intended to cause really serious harm, but this will be viewed against the background of domestic violence.
Mr Tehrani says Blye had a difficult upbringing that may have affected his decision to abuse alcohol and drugs.
12:08 pm Neil Docking DEFENCE
Judge Aubrey says the issue of premeditation is not a key factor when the incident is viewed as having taken place amid a background of domestic violence.
Christopher Tehrani, QC, defending, agrees.
He says the defendant is 52 and has pleaded guilty to the offence, albeit on the first day of a trial.
He says Blye accepts the judge has to pass a life sentence.
The purpose of today he says is to set the minimum term before Blye can be considered for release.
He argues that the starting point is one of 15 years after a trial.
Mr Tehrani questions whether there was evidence of a prolonged assault that would have led to mental and physically suffering.
He says she had consumed drugs before her death and this suffering may not have been present.
He accepts the domestic violence background amounts to an aggravating feature.
Mr Tehrani says it took place in the victim’s home but it was also Blye’s home. It was not a stranger attack.
He says the offence in 2005 is too old to be considered and was in different circumstances.
12:00 pm Neil Docking AGGRAVATING FEATURES
Mr Cummings says he tried to blame Louis Brown when he was arrested.
In mitigation he says Blye pleaded guilty to the offence.
A psychiatric report observed that he tried to minimise his own history of violence in relationships.
His abuse of alcohol and drugs was described as longstanding and “severe”.
Witnesses observed that he had increased aggression when intoxicated.
The court hears that Blye promised never to drink or take drugs again.
11:54 am Neil Docking PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS
Blye has convictions for 71 offences over 35 appearances dating back to when he was a youth.
He has convictions for dishonesty, drugs, violence and public disorder.
He was convicted of assault in the mid 1980s when in his early 20s.
He was convicted for assaulting police.
In July 1996 he was put on probation for assaulting police.
The following year he was jailed for three and a half years for supplying cocaine and heroin.
He received a further four and a half years for drug trafficking and assault with intent to rob in 2000.
He was convicted of domestic violence and harassment in 2005.
In February this year he had more domestic violence convictions.
11:52 am Neil Docking VICTIM PERSONAL STATEMENT
Julia Harrison, a nurse and sister of the victim, has also written a statement.
Mr Cummings says she expresses similar feelings to Hilary Diamond.
She says that Miss Diamond’s health and well being deteriorated after she separated with the father of her children.
She became a recreational drug user dependant on alcohol and drugs.
She says the impact of Miss Diamond’s death was “massive”.
Mrs Harrison says it took a toll on her and her parents.
She says the news Rachelle had killed herself was devastating. She says it was like a “nightmare”.
She says: “I feel like I’ve been placed in a TV drama against my will without a script.”
She too says Blye is responsible for the death of both Miss Diamond and Rachelle.
She says the coroner said if Miss Diamond had not been murdered, Rachelle would still be here today.
Blye is sat with his head in his hands chewing his nails in the dock.
11:46 am Neil Docking VICTIM PERSONAL STATEMENT
Mr Cummings says some of the family members who made these statements do not want them read in court.
Judge Aubrey says he has read each and every one of them more than once.
Mr Cummings says the victim’s mum Hilary Diamond is retired and in court.
She says her youngest child’s life was cut dramatically short by her murderer.
She says: “He is also responsible for the death of Kay’s daughter Rachel, who took her own life.”
She says the murder has affected her health.
She says every day for them now is a challenge. “Nothing has been the same.”
The court hears that she feared and dreaded attending court and seeing Blye.
She says: “If I had a choice I would want him to spend the rest of his life in jail and die there.”
Judge Aubrey asks if the coroner found that Rachelle Diamond took her own life. He asks for this to be confirmed.
11:46 am Neil Docking POST-MORTEM
A post mortem examination found that Miss Diamond was 5ft 4in and weighed 7st 10lbs. She was of thin build.
There were multiple bruises to her entire body, including her head, neck, chest, stomach, back, buttocks, genital region, arms and legs, all less than 48 hours old and inflicted around the same time.
A forensic pathologist found the bruising to her neck was consistent with gripping and blows but the doctor excluded strangulation as a possible cause of death.
Most injuries were said to be consistent with punching, poking, prodding or gripping.
The force required to inflict some of these injuries was considerable. This was illustrated by the fact her left sixth rib was fractured.
There were unusual injuries to her left arm and right buttock, which may have been caused by a thin chain such as a dog lead. No chain has been recovered.
He said there were injuries to the genital region consistent with punching or prodding.
There was bruising to the front of both thighs thought to be consistent with stamping or kicking.
Mr Cummings said there was widespread bruising to the head and bleeding on the brain thought to be from "blunt impact trauma" and "consistent with a sustained and violent assault".
There was no underlying natural pathology for her cause of death.
He said it was determined that she died from "blunt head trauma".
There was no alcohol but anti-depressants in her system.
None played a part in her death, he says.
11:35 am Neil Docking OBJECT
Mr Cummings says that at 10.15am Blye returned with Mr Halliday.
He says CCTV shows Blye at 10.20am "running away from the rear of the premises carrying an object in his right hand".
The court hears that three minutes later he is shown with nothing in his hands.
Mr Cummings says: "Whatever it was that the defendant had disposed of at this time has never been recovered."
The prosecution can’t say what it was. Mr Cummings says disposing of it and his behaviour was unusual. He says : “It demonstrated his calculating and indifferent behaviour when he must have believed his partner was either dead or dying.”
11:33 am Neil Docking CCTV
Police obtained and viewed CCTV footage from Lodge Lane which showed Blye left the flats on Saturday, February 28 between 9.13am and 9.39am.
He went to a bookmakers’ shop and an off-licence, and obtained a loaf of bread from a delivery driver.
Mr Cummings says he returned to Greenheys Gardens at around 9.45am.
He says another resident saw the defendant tying his dog up behind the flats and he untied it around 10.05am.
He says he spent the better part of 20 minutes inside the flat, before emerging at 10.05am and going to see Mr Halliday under the pretence of raising the alarm.
11:33 am Neil Docking DENIAL
Blye said that when he met Adrian Collins, he had told him that he had given the money owed to him to Miss Diamond "when she was with a baldy head fella" which he thought was Mr Brown.
He said he was cross about this because it showed she had been with Mr Brown but denied that he had made "any sort of threats about Kay to Adrian Collins".
Blye also maintained that it was only after he returned to the flat with Mr Halliday that he became alarmed and said he was not in a panic beforehand. He Mr Halliday was wrong about that.
Blye also denied threatening to snap her leg.
He said that when Halliday made the 999 call he went behind the flats "to take a deep breath as he was in shock".
Judge Aubrey says Mr Brown was interviewed under caution because of what he said.
11:29 am Neil Docking LOUIS BROWN
Blye later said that since his first statement he had become more and more concerned that Miss Diamond may have been harmed at the hands of Louis Brown.
He said he believed that during his time in prison Mr Brown had been staying in the flat with Miss Diamond and thought he may have a key. He said she told him he had been aggressive to her and took money from her.
He also said that Greenheys Gardens had "certain properties where people can just come and go and use drugs" and suggested Mr Brown may have been staying in a flat nearby.
He said late on Friday night or in the early hours of Saturday morning he had bumped into Mr Brown near to the main entrance to the flats and "pulled him up" about staying in the flats.
11:26 am Neil Docking
He said that he went to get a loaf of bread and then went to Mr Halliday’s.
Blye said he gained entry as Mr Halliday said and that he told him to call an ambulance when he said Miss Diamond was not breathing.
He finished the statement by saying: "I deny the offence of murder. I did not intend Kay to come to any harm. I acted in reasonable self defence when she continually came at me."
11:26 am Neil Docking ‘REASONABLE SELF DEFENCE’
In his first statement, Blye said he and Miss Diamond had both been drinking and that an argument started in the early hours because she wanted to continue drinking and he did not want her to.
He said that she "came at" him and that he recalled grabbing her face and pushing her away.
Blye said she kept coming at him and he "kept kicking her away".
He recalled a moment that she "fell hard to the floor" and said things eventually calmed down.
The defendant said she got undressed and they spent the night together on the sofa.
He said in the morning he woke up and went out, adding: "Kay was on the couch. She seemed fine. She was breathing fine."
11:25 am Neil Docking ARREST
Shortly before that, Blye was cautioned and arrested on suspicion of assaulting Miss Diamond.
He made no reply and was taken to Wavertree Road custody suite.
He was then cautioned and further arrested on suspicion of murder, to which he replied "wow, don’t say that I’ve done nothing".
Blye was later interviewed with a legal representative and an appropriate adult.
He was interviewed shortly after midnight on Sunday, March 1 and again between 3pm and 8pm.
He provided three prepared statements and answered "no comment" to questions asked.
11:25 am Neil Docking 999 CALL
Mr Halliday told the operator that Blye might be the attacker.
Mr Cummings says Blye returned and took the phone from Mr Halliday, telling the operator that he had gone to walk his dog and walked in to find his girlfriend.
He says: "He said that Louis Brown had been there the previous night and that his girlfriend was scared of Brown because he used to bully her."
During the call both men re-entered the flat and Mr Halliday tried chest compressions again under the operator’s guidance.
PC Graham Owen arrived at the scene at 10.38am and took over, followed by paramedics.
Despite their efforts, Miss Diamond was pronounced dead at 11.03am.
11:24 am Neil Docking BODY DISCOVERED
When the pair arrived at the flat, Blye said he did not have the key and left Mr Halliday at the front with the dog while he went round to the back to climb in through a rear window and open the door from inside.
When Mr Halliday entered the flat, Mr Cummings says he saw Miss Diamond lying face up, naked on the living room floor.
He says: "He could see immediately that she was in his words ‘not just beaten up but completely unresponsive’.
"He attempted chest compressions but when, after about a minute, he realised that he was not getting anywhere, he went outside in order to dial 999 for an ambulance.
"During this time he noticed that the defendant also left the flat and disappeared behind the building."
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/
