Victim of brutal stabbing '˜wouldn't hurt a fly'

A riding instructor who was stabbed to death in the stables of a farm 'wouldn't hurt a fly,' a court was told.
Fiona SouthwellFiona Southwell
Fiona Southwell

Fiona Southwell, who weighed just seven stone four lbs, suffered 26 injuries, including stab wounds that penetrated her brain, neck and lung, a pathologist told a jury at Hull Crown Court.

Daniel Edwards, 22, is accused of murdering the 59-year-old, who was found dead at Grange Farm near Hornsea, East Yorkshire, last July.

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Miss Southwell, who took commissions for horse and pet portraits, as well as judging at gymkhanas and hunter trials, was planning a move down south with friends who were buying a property with equestrian facilities and - unbeknown to her - an artists studio of her own.

Her sister Sharon Underhill said in a statement read to the court that her life had revolved round horses, which she looked after meticulously. She said: “I can’t understand why anyone would want to harm my wonderful sister. She wouldn’t hurt a fly and never had a cross word with anyone. She was such a genuine and kind person.”

Pathologist Dr Charles Wilson gave details of the 26 injuries Miss Southwell suffered, including a 15cm stab wound which had gone right through her neck, causing a cut in a major artery, which would have caused a severe haemorrhage as well as blockage of her airways.

She was also stabbed though an armpit into a lung, in its own right, a potentially life-threatening injury, said Dr Wilson. One injury, to her hand, was “a natural defensive reaction against an attack with a bladed weapon,” he added.

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The court has already heard that Edwards, of King Street, Hornsea, may have held a grudge against Miss Southwell, who replaced him as a stablehand, after he was sacked from looking after the horses at Grange Farm in May. The horses’ owner Pamela Newton said in a statement she suspected Edwards had “learning difficulties because you have to keep on at him.” The trial continues.