Liam Smith: Acid attack trial hears of 'fear, love and lies'

A woman accused of the shooting and acid murder of her Tinder date told a jury she was too "petrified" to tell police her new boyfriend was the killer but then went with him on holiday.

Rachel Fulstow, 37, said the first she knew Liam Smith, 38, had come to harm was when boyfriend Michael Hillier turned up at her home after the attack.

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

Mr Hillier, of Sheffield, and Ms Fulstow, of York, both deny murder.

Mr Smith had been lured from his home, shot in the face then had sulphuric acid poured over him as he lay dying, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court has heard.

The father-of-two, an electrician from Wigan, was declared dead at the scene.

Six days later Ms Fulstow and Mr Hillier, who both deny murder, flew to Jamaica for a two-week break, the jury was told.

Mr Smith's murder was allegedly prompted by a one-night stand between him and Ms Fulstow, at a York hotel in 2019, which angered her new boyfriend who she met more than a year later, the trial has heard.

The court heard Mr Hillier was "led to believe" the one-night stand, arranged on Tinder, was a "non-consensual" sexual encounter.

Louise Blackwell KC, defending Mr Hillier, said she wanted to examine the "fear, love and lies" Ms Fulstow had told the jury about in her relationship with Mr Hillier, whom she first met online, in December 2022, on the dating app Hinge.

Ms Fulstow told the jury when she first visited his house on Eccleshall Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, it was a "mess", with his dining room and two upstairs rooms containing tents to aid cannabis production.

She denied Mr Hillier "paid for everything" on nights out, at restaurants and on numerous trips they enjoyed in the UK and internationally.

Ms Blackwell said: "You knew he was totally besotted with you. Way over and above what you felt for him?"

Ms Fulstow replied: "Yes, potentially."

Ms Fulstow said they had broken up in September 2021 and that Hillier was abusive, she was in fear of him and he had once smashed up her house in Andrew Drive, York.

Ms Blackwell then showed the jury a series of photographs from Mr Hillier's Instagram account, which included photos of both defendants, smiling or kissing, on nights and days out, at restaurants, on weekend breaks and holidays.

One photo showed them at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant in London and others on trips to Brussels and Andorra.

Ms Fulstow said: "Behind the photos, there was a lot more going on."

She was also shown photos of them on holiday in Jamaica.

Ms Blackwell said: "According to you, only days earlier you have heard he's done this terrible thing? Did you ever contact police?"

Ms Fulstow said she went to Jamaica with Mr Hillier but felt "horrendous for what he had done".

She added: "I just wanted to get through the holiday. I just wanted to go home."

Ms Blackwell suggested Ms Fulstow was "perfectly happy" to be with Mr Hillier and "take his money".

Mr Hillier has admitted manslaughter but denies murder, along with Ms Fulstow.

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

The trial continues.

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