Liam Smith: Woman denies gun and acid killing was act of revenge

A woman has denied seeking revenge over a "non-consensual" sexual encounter with a man she met on Tinder, who was found shot and attacked with acid.

Rachel Fulstow, 37, told a trial a one-night stand with Liam Smith did not cause her to persuade new boyfriend, Michael Hillier, 39, to attack him.

Mr Smith's body was found near his home in Shevington, Wigan, on 24 November.

Mr Hillier, of Sheffield, and Ms Fulstow, of York, deny murder at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

Jurors were told Mr Smith had been lured from his home, shot in the face and he then had sulphuric acid poured over him as he lay dying.

Mr Hillier, who has admitted manslaughter, was "led to believe" the fling between Ms Fulstow and Mr Smith at a York hotel in 2019 was non-consensual, the court heard.

However, Ms Fulstow earlier told the court she did not regard the encounter as rape.

Michael Hayton KC, defending Ms Fulstow put to her allegations that her co-accused Mr Hillier had made against her.

He said: "Did you persuade Michael Hillier to wreak revenge on Liam Smith?

"Did you know he was going to do it before he went to shoot and pour acid on him?"

"No," Ms Fulstow replied.

Mr Hayton continued: "Had you wanted Michael Hillier to carry out this attack as a consequence of what happened in 2019?"

Ms Fulstow told the jury: "No. That incident was three or four years before and something I had never talked about to anybody else."

She said the first she knew that Mr Smith had come to harm was when Mr Hillier turned up at her house in York.

Mr Hillier has admitted the manslaughter of Mr Smith but denies murder along with Ms Fulstow, who denies helping her boyfriend carry out the murder plot.

Earlier, Ms Fulstow said she met Mr Smith through Tinder and he travelled to York to meet up in September 2019.

They went out and got drunk and they ended up having sex - but she said it was not consensual.

Ms Fulstow said she did not regard the episode as "rape" and would not call it that.

She said: "He apologised, we spoke about it and I accepted that and we carried on.

"It was non-consensual but that is not the word (rape) I have used or have ever used. I just wanted to forget about it."

About 15 months later she met Mr Hillier on the dating app Hinge, the court heard.

But she said there were problems in their relationship, with Mr Hillier being verbally abusive, moody, unpredictable and suffering mental health issues.

He was also a heavy user of diazepam, she said, and was not happy she had the one-night stand with Mr Smith as this was "not classy" and it was something he kept bringing up.

But Ms Fulstow, an international travel and tourism management graduate from Leeds Met University, who worked for a property management company, said she had no knowledge Mr Hillier was planning to harm Mr Smith.

She was initially arrested as a witness but did not tell police everything she knew because she was "petrified" of Mr Hillier, she said.

Ms Fulstow, of Andrew Drive, and Mr Hillier, Of Ecclesall Road, deny murder.

She also denies a single count of perverting the course of justice.

The trial was adjourned until next Wednesday.

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