A woman looked like a ‘crazed animal’ as she attacked her ‘sugar daddy’ with a vodka bottle before stabbing him to death, a court has heard.
Lauren Harris, 29, suddenly ‘erupted’ and launched herself at grandfather Mark Wilcox, 65, at his seaside home in Colwyn Bay, Wales, a murder trial was told.
The jury at Mold Crown Court heard her ‘pupils were massive’ as she began punching and kicking her lover before smacking him over the head with a vodka bottle in front of two of her friends.
Harris’ pal David Webster, 43, told the trial it ‘died down again’ before Harris returned to knife Mr Wilcox who was left to die in a pool of blood in his armchair.
Webster and Thomas Whiteley, 33 had been invited over by Harris into the seafront home for a night of ‘drinking and drug-taking’ in November last year.
All three are standing trial accused of murdering Mr Wilcox. They have all denied the charge.
Lauren Harris, 29, (pictured arriving at court) was described as looking like a ‘crazed animal’ as she attacked her ‘sugar daddy’ with a vodka bottle before stabbing him to death, a court has heard
Mark Wilcox, 65, was left to die in a pool of blood in his armchair at his seafront home in Colwyn Bay, Wales, the trial was told
Webster has blamed Harris for the killing, telling the jury she looked like ‘crazed animal’.
Describing the moment she jumped out of her chair, he told the court: ‘The look in her eyes – her pupils were massive, it was just the speed at which she did it.’
He said he tried to ‘intervening and calm her down’ before grabbing the vodka bottle off her, but she was still ‘irate, kicking off and shouting’.
Webster told the court said it ‘died down again’ until Harris returned and picked up a knife to stab Mr Wilcox.
He told the jury she stabbed him with ‘no warning whatsoever’, again describing her as a ‘crazed animal’.
Webster said Harris then stabbed Mr Wilcox again and they ‘couldn’t get her to stop’.
He said: ‘I tried telling her to calm down, but she wouldn’t calm down. She said: ‘I’ll stab you, as well’.’
The trio then allegedly stole his red Volvo only to crash the care in less than a minute after leaving the scene.
Prosecutor Andrew Ford KC said Harris had previous convictions for assault including unlawful wounding in 2022 involving use of a knife against a partner.
Her friend David Webster told the court Harris began punching and kicking the grandfather before hitting him over the head with a vodka bottle
Webster has blamed Harris for killing Mr Wilcox, telling the jury she looked like ‘crazed animal’
He retired in October just weeks before he died in November. The father-of-four never had the chance to hold his newly-born ninth grandchild
The murder trial jury was previously shown footage of Harris’ arrest and interviews in custody where she denied being part of the killing.
Harris then added: ‘I’m in here because of what them two have done. It wasn’t me.’
After being told she was being arrested on suspicion of murder, she said: ‘No one’s done anything wrong. What do you mean, murder?
‘Why am I getting nicked for it? It doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve done f**k all, anyway.’
Mr Wilcox had started a relationship with Harris because he ‘wanted to look after her’ in his retirement before repeatedly lending her money and even inviting her to stay at his home.
But the court has heard how Harris ‘took advantage’ of the grandfather and father-of-two.
Mr Ford has told the court: ‘Mr Wilcox was a gregarious, generous man whose generosity spilled over with the people he met, including, sometimes, strangers’.
He met Harris outside the Black Cloak pub in Colwyn Bay when they ‘got talking and a relationship developed between them.’
Mr Ford said: ‘Harris took advantage of Mr Wilcox, and that, to her, he presented an opportunity from which she could benefit.’
When asked about the relationship, Mr Wilcox would say he wanted to ‘help’ or ‘save’ Harris.
The court heard Mr Wilcox appeared to be repeatedly lending Harris money.
So concerned were his four sons about their father’s apparent decline that one of their partners started a WhatsApp group with them, named ‘dad brigade’, to keep a ‘mutual eye on him’.
By the time of his death, his bank account was overdrawn, with more than £12,000 having been withdrawn from it between June and November 2023.
Colwyn Bay in North Wales where Mark Wilcox lived in his house on the seafront
Mr Ford told the jury that Mr Wilcox was stabbed twice to the chest, and suffered ‘significant blows to the head’.
A pathologist found that Mr Wilcox sustained two stab wounds, as well as injuries consistent with him having been struck with a solid object – ‘such as a blood-stained vodka bottle.’
When interviewed by police, Harris denied any involvement in Mr Wilcox’s death.
Whiteley said he ‘bumped into’ Harris and Webster that night – and they all went to the home of someone Harris called her ‘sugar daddy’.
Mr Ford said: ‘We say all three are responsible for Mr Wilcox’s death.
‘A flashpoint occurred after some hours of drinking and drug-taking, at which events suddenly turned nasty and violent.
‘We say it was an attack in which he was stabbed twice, and assaulted with a weapon, causing significant and different injuries.’
Mr Wilcox worked for the Ministry of Defence and the BBC, then as a freelance IT specialist upon moving to Colwyn Bay, before retiring at the age of 65,
He retired in October just weeks before he died in November. The father-of-four never had the chance to hold his newly-born ninth grandchild.
Richard Pratt KC, defending, said Harris would not give evidence during the trial.
Mr Justice Pepperall said: ‘The jury may draw such inferences as appear proper from her failure to do so.’
Harris, of no fixed abode, Webster, of Widnes, and Whiteley, of Old Colwyn, all deny murder.
The trial continues.
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