Partner of murder victim swapped steamy sexts with woman accused of knifing her to death, a court hears
Messages between Sadie Hartley's partner Ian Johnston and his younger lover Sarah Williams are said to have been explicit
THE PARTNER of a murder victim swapped a series of explicit texts with the woman accused of later knifing her to death, a court heard.
Many of the messages between lovers Ian Johnston and 35-year-old Sarah Williams were explicit and contained naked photographs, a jury was told.
Ex-fireman Johnston, 57, was in a relationship with businesswoman Sadie Hartley, 60 at the time she was found face-down in a pool of blood in the hallway of her £500,000 home in the upmarket village of Helmshore, Lancashire, in January.
She had been incapacitated with a 500,000-volt stun gun and then stabbed more than 40 times after answering her front door, Preston Crown Court heard.
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It is alleged Williams was obsessed with ex-fireman Johnston, 57, and as a result wanted Hartley out of the way.
Taking the stand today Johnston told how he first met Hartley in 2002, but it was not until 2006 until they embarked on a relationship.
He says in around 2008 he decided it was “too difficult to maintain a relationship at that stage” and they went “their separate ways.”
However they rekindled their contact in 2010 after Mr Johnston had retired from the fire service.
He went on to say he believed he first met Williams in December 2012 with the relationship becoming intimate “very quickly”.
He described an occasion where Williams came round his house wearing a short skirt and high heels.
The court heard how Johnston tried “for months” to end things with Williams in 2013, but she would “keep turning up” to his house unannounced.
He told how by the summer of 2014 his relationship with Sadie Hartley had been “rekindled”.
At the time Williams had allegedly sent Hartley a letter claiming to be in a relationship with Johnston.
He said: “We discussed the letter and its merits and we decided in all the circumstances, and for all sorts of reasons, we should get together.
“Sadie was a very pragmatic and driven lady.”
Johnston broke down in tears in the witness box as he talks about planning his “future” with Hartley during a holiday the pair took together early in 2014.
The court then heard how they moved in together in November of that year.
Yet he still swapped explicit messages with Williams in late 2015 the court heard.
Talking about those messages he says: “I was absolutely distraught that I had sent the texts”.
He described the texts as “meaningless”, adding that the relationship was “purely sexual”.
Under cross-examination Johnston claimed he had decided as early as spring 2013 that he “didn’t want” a relationship with Williams.
Williams and alleged accomplice Katrina Walsh, 56, both of Chester, deny murder.
The trial continues.
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