A YOUNG woman has claimed she was ‘absolutely heartbroken’ over the killing of her ‘best friend’ Bethany Hill – and has denied lying to cover up her own involvement.

But Kayleigh Woods has been accused of feeling ‘not one drop of pity’ for Miss Hill, of Bidford, and of continuing to love the man who had ‘slaughtered’ her.

Woods, aged 23, of Hertford Road, Stratford, and Jack Williams, 21, formerly of Bidford, who was said to have been living with her at the time, have both denied Miss Hill’s murder on February 3 last year.

Her body was discovered by the police and paramedics in the bathroom of the ground-floor flat in Hertford Road after a 999 call from Woods at just after 7pm.

But by then her body had been lying in the flat for more than 12 hours, after her throat had been cut in what is alleged to have been ‘a sadistic killing.’

Prosecutor Stephen Linehan QC said the evidence was that the murder was not carried out quickly and Beth's wrists were bound with duct tape.

Questioned by prosecutor Stephen Linehan QC, Woods, who has told the jury she helped try to clean up the blood admitted she knew Williams had killed Miss Hill.

Mr Linehan said: “You took part in that killing, didn’t you?” Woods replied: “No.”

Mr Linehan suggested when Woods made an emergency call she intended they would believe Miss Hill had killed herself.

She said: “I think so, that’s what I said to them.”

Mr Linehan played the 999 call in which Woods said Beth had ‘cut herself and is bleeding everywhere’ and, asked during the call if she knew Beth was dead, she tearfully said she did not.

In response to a question from Mr Linehan, Woods conceded: “This isn’t true. I obviously did know she was dead.”

“So you were lying from the outset,” said Mr Linehan, who asked: “Who were the tears for?”

He went on: “You were crying for yourself. Not even you suggest you were crying tears for Beth. You were crying because of the situation in which you were.” She replied: “That’s what you think. It’s not true.”

Mr Linehan put to her: “You felt not one drop of pity for that girl. All you felt was pity for yourself and fear of what was going to happen.”

Woods responded: “I felt a lot of things. I was absolutely heartbroken. I still can’t get it out of my head to this day that all of this happened.”

Mr Linehan asked: “How could you allege that this young woman who had been murdered had killed herself? How could you find it in your heart to do that?”

She responded: “Because of all the things that had been said earlier on. Earlier on that day a lot of things had been said. Jack said to say this and not to say that.”

Mr Linehan said it had been a lie to tell the police Beth had drunk bleach at 3am, pointing out she had not done so, but Woods insisted: “She tried to.”

He pointed out that she had said in her evidence she had picked up Williams’ phone and gone into the bathroom to check for messages from another young woman, and had come out to see him kneeling on top of Beth on the bed in the bedroom.

Asked why she had not told the police about that, she replied: “Because I blame myself for being paranoid. If I hadn’t taken that phone and gone into the bathroom, maybe none of this this would have happened. It may not have got to the stage where he went into the bedroom.”

Mr Linehan pointed out she had described things taking place over a very short period, when, he suggested, the attack on Beth had actually lasted a long time.

Mr Linehan put to her: “You were taking part in this killing. That is why you were lying about what was taking place.” Woods answered: “No I wasn’t.”

The trial continues.