Drugs binge of Sherlock accused

Maxine Frith12 April 2012

The couple accused of murdering BBC costume designer Elizabeth Sherlock used the dead woman's debit card to get £100 for drugs within minutes of running over and killing her, a court heard today.

Jackie Moorehouse and Mark Woolley then went to a King's Cross crack house to buy and take drugs, an Old Bailey jury heard.

Mrs Sherlock, 53, from Chiswick, was killed after she leaped on to the bonnet of Woolley's car in pursuit of Moorehouse, who had stolen her handbag from a cafe in Euston station on Easter Monday.

Mrs Sherlock clung on to the bonnet for more than a minute as Woolley zigzagged up and down the street but eventually fell off and Woolley drove over her, leaving her dying from multiple injuries.

Woolley, 36, from Hampstead, admits manslaughter but denies murder. Moorehouse, 24, also of Hampstead, admits stealing Mrs Sherlock's bag but denies murder and manslaughter.

Today Moorehouse, who the jury was told has 70 previous convictions for theft and other petty offences, recounted how she felt "two bumps" as Woolley drove straight over Mrs Sherlock's prone body.

Moorehouse, dressed in a black trouser suit and white shirt, said: "I saw her fly up in the air, then Mark drove over her. I felt two bumps. I said to him: 'You've driven over her.' I couldn't believe what had happened. I was panicking. I didn't know what to think."

She added: "We got out of the car and started walking. I just kept saying: 'Do you think she will be dead?' and Mark kept saying that he didn't know. We just wanted to get away from there."

She told how the pair took a minicab to a nearby Waitrose supermarket where she used Mrs Sherlock's card to get £100 on a cashback facility. They then went to the crack house in King's Cross.

Asked how she felt about her actions, Moorehouse said: "I am ashamed about that now."

She added: "We took some drugs. I was crying. Mark was gazing out of the window. I couldn't believe it had happened."

Moorehouse and Woolley spent the next two days stealing other handbags and taking more drugs before they were arrested at her aunt's house in Hampstead.

The jury was told how Moorehouse began sniffing solvents at the age of 13 before moving on to heroin at 15 and crack cocaine a year later. At the time of her arrest she weighed only seven stone, had hepatitis C and was injecting heroin into her groin because all her other veins had collapsed.

The couple's son was taken away at birth and put into care. Moorehouse told the jury how she was sent to prison for stealing a handbag from a nurse while she was in hospital having had the baby.

On the day of Mrs Sherlock's death, the couple had gone to Euston to steal money for drugs.

Describing how Mrs Sherlock tried to recover her handbag, Moorehouse said: "I just picked up the bag and walked out [of the cafe]. I could hear shouting. I could hear her saying: 'Thief! Stop that woman, she has my bag.' I just started to run. I wanted to get to the car.

"She sounded like she was really angry. She was right behind me.

"I don't know how she got on the bonnet. I said to her: 'Get off the car or you're going to get hurt,' but she didn't." The trial continues.

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