Chilling moment killer girlfriend cries crocodile tears and calls for boyfriend after stabbing him
Chilling moment killer girlfriend cries crocodile tears and calls out for her boyfriend after stabbing him to death with a steak knife
- Footage shows Emma-Jayne Magson, 28, claiming not to know what happened
- But the Leicester resident had stabbed her boyfriend James Knight, 26, to death
- She then waited 45 minutes to dial 999, before lying about extent of his injuries
- Magson was found guilty of murder for a second time, following a retrial
This is the chilling moment a killer girlfriend cried out for her boyfriend just moments after stabbing him with a steak knife and watching him die.
Police body-cam footage caught Emma-Jayne Magson, 28, appealing to officers with crocodile tears as she claimed not to know what had happened to him.
But on Friday she was found guilty of murdering James Knight, 26, for a second time following a retrial ordered by the Court of Appeal.
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Emma-Jayne Magson, 26, of Leicester, was caught on police body-cam footage crying out for her boyfriend just moments after stabbing him with a steak knife and watching him die
Magson has been convicted of murdering her boyfriend James Knight, 26, for a second time at Birmingham Crown Court following a retrial this week
A court heard how she plunged the blade into the heart of her partner in a drunken row following a night out in Leicester before waiting 45 minutes to dial 999.
She claimed Mr Knight had collapsed and when a call operator warned her the ambulance might be delayed, she calmly replied: ‘No, that’s fine, don’t worry about it.’
She also lied to call handlers about his injuries, saying ‘I just think he’s too smashed’, after claiming he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
The binman was pronounced dead from a single stab wound after being attacked with the 11.5cm (4.5ins) long blade in the early hours of March 27, 2016.
In footage released by Leicestershire Police, Magson is seen telling officers who arrived at the scene: ‘We had a fight but he seemed fine. He was breathing heavily, but he was still alive.’
She then appears to become more agitated as she screams: ‘I don’t care, just get my boyfriend out,’ before adding: ‘I don’t care as long as he is alive’.
James Knight, 26, was stabbed with a steak knife by his girlfriend, Emma-Jayne Magson
Magson can be heard sobbing as she bangs on the front door and says, ‘I want my boyfriend’ and ‘James, come on.’
She denied murder, claiming she had acted in self-defence, but was convicted and jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years at the end of 2016.
Court of Appeal judges ordered a retrial after hearing that a defence of diminished responsibility should have been made available to Magson at her first trial.
New evidence was put forward that she was in an abusive relationship and had witnessed domestic abuse as a child, Leicester Mercury reports.
A second eight week trial took place at Birmingham Crown Court where a jury again found her guilty of murder.
After the case, police released chilling footage of Magson calmly chatting to 999 operators as she watched her boyfriend dying.
She says: ‘My boyfriend is here and he’s making weird noises, I don’t know what’s going on.
‘He’s got a lot of blood on him. I don’t know what’s up with him. James turn round so I know what’s up with you.
‘Now he’s stopped making noises. He seemed fine, he’s come home to me as I’ve been out all night and he’s collapsed on the floor.
‘He’s breathing fine, its like he is asleep. I don’t know if he’s making noises for my sake or what. Now its just like he’s asleep.
Magson, 26, failed to divulge to call handlers the true extent of her boyfriend’s injuries
‘I don’t know if something is up with him or if he’s playing me about. It looks like he is sleeping, but its not like he usually sleeps.’
After being told the ambulance might be delayed on a busy Bank Holiday weekend she replies: ‘No, that’s fine, don’t worry about it. I just think he’s too smashed, that’s what I think.’
She failed to mention to operators he had suffered a stab wound, but later divulged to witnesses she had caused his injuries and was arrested by officers.
Detective Inspector Kenny Henry, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: ‘It has been very disappointing to have to be back in court four years on to see the case be heard before a jury once more.
‘The evidence against Magson continued to be overwhelming and the fact she has been convicted a second time just confirms that.
‘Understandably James’ family found it incredibly difficult to sit through the first trial and hear her lies and deceit and how Magson effectively sat back and watched James die.
‘It has been horrendous for this to be spoken about in court again.
‘They have done their best to come to terms with his death, but to hear yet again that Magson insisted that James had just collapsed because he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol has been distressing for them.
‘They have been reminded with the fact that it was only some time later that she called an ambulance, and even then, she failed to disclose to the call taker that he had sustained a stab wound, [which] she later admitting causing.
‘They continue to struggle with the possibility had Magson called an ambulance sooner and told of them of his injury, he could have lived and they wouldn’t be mourning for James, a much-loved son and brother.
‘Knife crime can have a devastating effect on families, which is why it continues to remain an ongoing priority for the force.’
Magson, of of Newfoundpool, Leicester, will be sentenced again on March 29.
