MP's niece on trial for sex-game killing

Jessica Davies admitted stabbing Oliver Mugnier to death but said she had no memory of the killing. She faces 30 years in prison if convicted of the 2007 killing. She is accused of voluntary homicide without premeditation.

Mr Mugnier, 24, died from multiple stab wounds to the throat and body.

French investigators described his death as a sex game gone wrong. But Davies, 30, who has dual French and British citizenship, said she could not recall the circumstances of the killing.

The Paris court was told that Davies had a history of depression, violent behaviour and drug and alcohol abuse.

In November 2007 police responded to a call from Davies saying there was a wounded man in her home, in the affluent Paris suburb of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. They found Mr Mugnier with multiple stab wounds. He died shortly after medics arrived.

Davies picked up Mr Mugnier at a bar in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on the night of the killing.

Tests revealed that Davies had a high level of alcohol in her blood on the night of the incident.

Davies's mother, Monique Henry, a literature professor and French citizen, acknowledged that her separation from Davies's father – a British businessman who left his family to move to Italy with his mistress – deeply upset her daughter.

"Jessica was shattered by her parents' difficulties," she said, adding that in the months before the crime, Davies had taken to cutting her own arms and legs.

Davies said the psychological help she had received in prison, while awaiting trial had helped her.

A decision in the case is expected today.

Davies's uncle, diplomat-turned-businessman Quentin Davies, has been an MP for more than 20 years. Originally elected as a Tory, he defected to Labour in 2007.