A NINE-YEAR-OLD girl clutching a teddy bear became a key witness in the trial of Tracie Andrews yesterday when she described hearing two people arguing at the murder scene.
The girl, who cannot be named, gave 37 minutes of videotaped evidence, in which she described a long and fierce argument between a man and a person with a “softer voice” at the time that Miss Andrews is alleged to have stabbed her fiancé, Lee Harvey, in a country lane. Miss Andrews, 28, who denies murder, has claimed that Mr Harvey, 25, died as a result of a “road rage” incident on December 1 last year.
The girl, who said she was woken up by the argument, was in bed at a cottage next to the murder scene in Alvechurch, Hereford and Worcester. Her mother was downstairs watching television with a friend.
The girl's taped interview was shown to a packed courtroom at Birmingham Crown Court. The girl, wearing a navy blue school uniform, appeared to be relaxed, often smiling at the policewoman interviewing her. However, the court was told earlier that she had been traumatised by the murder and had difficulty sleeping.
After reassuring the girl that she was not in trouble and that her mother was in a room next to the police video suite, the policewoman said: “Tell me about what you heard.” She answered articulately in a well-spoken voice: “I woke up ... I heard some people talking outside. It sounded like two people. There was definitely a man because he was shouting. It sounded as if he was arguing.”
Playing with the teddy bear's ears, she went on: “I could hear Mummy and Richard talking downstairs and watching television. There was clapping [on the television].”
The girl described how the argument continued as she got out of bed and went to the lavatory. She said: “I went back to my room. I could hear the arguing. The man sounded quite fierce. It sounded like he was trying to be really fierce to the other person.”
As Miss Andrews sat in the dock looking at the floor, the rest of the court watched as the policewoman asked the girl if she remembered what day this happened. She said: “I don't know what the day was. It was the day that it happened.”
The policewoman asked: “What?” She replied: “The murder.”
The girl went on to say that one of the people she heard in the road outside her bedroom window was a man. She was not sure if the other was a man or a woman because the voice was soft. She said: “Whoever it was was shouting, but it was quite a soft voice ... you couldn't tell if it was a man's voice or a woman's voice.”
The prosecution declined to cross-examine the girl by video link as she waited in a different room within the court building. Ronald Thwaites, QC, said: “After having seen the mother, I don't want to trouble this child.”
Earlier the girl's mother told the court that her daughter had been traumatised by the aftermath of the murder as police and journalists called at the cottage and flowers laid by grieving relatives served as a constant reminder of the incident. She became frightened to go to bed alone, and often preferred to fall asleep downstairs and be carried up to bed.
The mother said: “She has certainly been very frightened by this ... it still obviously is on her mind.” She added: ”I have had to go to the doctor on several occasions. She certainly wasn't herself for some time afterwards.”
The trial continues.