A teenage boy allegedly raped then attempted to murder his ex-girlfriend to prove to he loved his current partner, a court heard.
The boy, 17, is on trial accused of the attempted murder and rape of his ex, who was 16 at the time and is the mother of his child.
His current girlfriend, 17, is also in the dock accused of intentionally encouraging or assisting the boy to commit murder, and an alternative count of intentionally encouraging or assisting the boy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent.
Both defendants, who can’t be named for legal reasons, have pleaded not guilty to those offences.
Opening the case to jurors at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Alaric Bassano said: ‘What I am about to describe sounds unbelievable, indeed it would be unbelievable but for the fact that it actually happened.’
The teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are on trial at Manchester Crown Court
The court heard that the boy had been continuing to see his ex-girlfriend behind the back of his new girlfriend.
His new partner had learned of the relationship, jurors heard, and she was said to be ‘incensed’ and she ‘felt humiliated’.
Mr Bassano said: ‘She lambasted him, threatened to end the relationship and told him he would have to work hard to win back her affections.’
The day before the alleged attack earlier this year, the boy is said to have searched online for terms including ‘asphyxiation’, ‘how many years is someone in for murder?’ and ‘how long do murderers serve in prison?’.
Mr Bassano told jurors: ‘The prosecution say events the following day show that these internet searches were not acts of idle curiosity.’
The court heard that the boy turned up at the complainant’s home in Greater Manchester with a change of clothes, and a large kitchen knife in his bag.
He is alleged to have raped her, before telling her that he ‘had to kill her’.
Outside in the garden, prosecutors allege that the boy ‘unleashed extreme violence’ towards the girl using the knife, saying it was a ‘matter of good fortune’ that she was not killed.
Mr Bassano said: ‘He had no grievance with her, she had done him no harm and he acted not out of spite, anger, jealousy or resentment towards her.
‘Rather, he acted simply to find favour and maintain romance with his girlfriend.
‘The prosecution says that the evidence demonstrates that she knew what he was going to do, and deliberately encouraged and assisted in this violent attack.’
Prosecutors say that after leaving the scene, the boy texted his girlfriend saying: ‘I did it to prove I love you there was no other way to keep you.’
She is said to have replied by saying: ‘I know there wasn’t I’m gonna protect you at all costs.’
They say that the female defendant bought Dettol wipes for the male defendant to clean the knife with.
The Crown also say a number of texts she sent shows her knowledge of the incident.
One text read: ‘Vid it then delete it when I see it please. I cannot stop crying.’
Jurors heard that the female defendant is expected to say she thought the boy was just going to end the relationship with his ex, and that’s what she wanted him to record.
Prosecutors said that the boy spent about three-and-a-half hours inside his ex-girlfriend’s house during the alleged incident.
They say that the female defendant was near the house for more than two hours, and that she sent more than 50 text messages to him while he was in the property.
One of the texts from her read: ‘Hurry up, what’s taking so long?’
While he was in the house, jurors have heard that he began engaging in ‘bizarre conduct’.
This included ‘asking her whether she would kill herself for him, asking her whether he could kill her, asking her how he should kill her, telling her that he had been told to kill her, insisting that he had to kill her and then suggesting that he was joking, and instructing her to apply makeup to her neck to give the appearance of strangulation, so that he could take a photograph and send it to another as fake evidence of her death’.
The girl had begun putting makeup on her neck to make it look like she had been strangled, the court heard.
She closed her eyes while he took a picture of her, but when she opened her eyes she saw him with a ‘massive’ knife.
After he left the house, he then began to repeatedly stab her in a garden at the side of the house.
Jurors have heard that the boy has pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to intent, and unlawful possession of a knife in a public place.
He denies intending to kill the girl, and accepts having sex with her but says it was consensual.
The female defendant denies both offences with which she has been charged.
The trial, which is expected to run for two weeks, continues.