I don’t know what came over me, says ex-soldier who killed Leeds landlady

Aaron Wilkinson, 24, of Alma Gardens, Woodlesford, Leeds, is accused of murdering 52-year-old Judith Garnett by shooting her in the chest and head in her home in January 2011.

Wilkinson told the jury at Bradford Crown Court today that he could not explain why he shot Mrs Garnett and said it was as though he was in a “trance”.

Giving evidence, he said: “All of a sudden, something came over me, I don’t know what, I can’t explain that, all I just remember seeing is me lunging over to the other bed and I just watched myself load the gun and fire.

“It just sort of happened, I don’t know what came over me.”

The defendant added: “It sort of just went black and white and hazy at times. It was like I just turned into a mad man.”

He continued: “I felt like somebody I’m not.”

Wilkinson said he did not feel in control of himself at the time and would not have killed Mrs Garnett if he had been.

The court heard that Wilkinson fired three shots.

The first shot hit Mrs Garnett in the chest, the second grazed the side of her face and the third was fired into her head.

Wilkinson told the jury he realised what he had done immediately after firing the third shot.

“Straight away I saw what had happened and realised that I’d done a terrible wrong and phoned the police straight away,” he said.

The court has heard that Wilkinson joined the Territorial Army in his late teens and went on a six-month tour of duty of Afghanistan in 2009.

Following his return, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress reaction (PTSR) by an Army doctor and has since also been found to suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome, or a similar condition.

Wilkinson had worked for Mrs Garnett on her game farm for around 10 years and had moved into her attic room as a lodger in July 2010 after an argument with his mother.

He told the court that, on the day of the shooting, Mrs Garnett returned home and shouted at him for not letting her dogs out during the day as she had requested.

He said: “She said, ‘You haven’t let the f****** dogs out you cruel bastard. You’re thick, you’re cruel’, basically kept on saying those words.”

Wilkinson told the jury Mrs Garnett threw his gun up through the hatch into the attic bedroom and told him to “pack his bags”.

He denies murder but pleaded guilty at the beginning of the trial to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.