Notes found by the police suggested the men may have had a grudge against Stone because of her connections to the royal family.
Note: This article is from the Guardian.
The soul singer Joss Stone told a court she was at home in Devon on the day that two men, who are accused of plotting to rob and murder her, were arrested close by with an arsenal of weapons.
Stone said she had an alarm at her house but did not use it very often and did not really have a lock on her door – but she did now.
The singer, 25, told the jury at Exeter crown court: “I’ve lived in Devon for a long time and nobody really shuts their door.”
Two men, Kevin Liverpool and Junior Bradshaw, were found with weapons including a samurai sword, hammers, a metal spike and a knife, when they were seized by police, it is claimed. They also had balaclava helmets, gloves, body bags, gaffer tape, maps and a roll of plastic bags, the court has been told.
Notes found by the police suggested the two had planned to decapitate Stone, whom they referred to as a “she-devil”, and throw her body in a river, it is alleged. The prosecution has said the motive for the men’s alleged plot may never be known. There may have been a financial reason but other notes hinted that they may have had a grudge against Stone because of her connections to the royal family: royals have watched her perform and she attended Prince William’s wedding.
Liverpool, 35, and Bradshaw, 32, from Manchester, deny conspiring to murder Stone and also pleaded not guilty to conspiring to cause her grievous bodily harm or rob her in June 2011.
The court has heard that the pair were arrested a few miles from Stone’s home where she was at the time, although the singer only became aware of what had happened when police contacted her later that day.
She told the court: “Apart from someone [the police] coming around to say someone is trying to kill me, it was a really nice day.”
Stone – who said she was happy to be referred to in court by her real name, Jocelyn Stoker – said: “I had an alarm but I did not really turn it on very much. I didn’t really have a lock on my door … But I do now.” She also agreed that the property, accessed by narrow lanes, was an “open house” for family, friends and her then boyfriend.
The singer said: “At the time I had a gate. To get in, they [visitors] would just open the gate, drive in with their car, get up to another gate, shut the gate hopefully so the dogs don’t get out, then say hello.”
Asked by Philip King QC, representing Liverpool, about what happened when police arrived at her home, Stone said: “That was strange – it was a surprise.”
According to the prosecution, Liverpool used a computer at his local library to research various artistes before fastening on Stone. Two weeks before they were arrested there was a reconnaissance trip to the village where Stone lived, it was claimed, when a neighbour saw a red car driving slowly past Stone’s home.
In June 2011, the men drove to Devon with the weapons and other equipment in a red Fiat Punto.
Simon Morgan, prosecuting, told the jury: “The crown says with this arsenal of weapons it is obvious they were intent upon serious violence. The intended target is Joss Stone. They had decided upon this action some time before and this was the time to put it into effect.”
They got lost and showed a postman a picture of Stone and one of the men asked him where she lived, the jury was told. The postman told them he did not know.
Later, three local women saw the car. They thought the occupants were “agitated and behaving abnormally” and phoned the police. A patrol car followed the Fiat then stopped it. The weapons and equipment were found.
When the men’s flat in Longsight, Manchester, was searched, police also discovered a pistol, crossbow and a BB gun.
Notes found included the message: “Joscelyn [sic] Stoker … RIP for ever” and: “I don’t kill just for dollars, only for good cause or reason.” One mentioned decapitation and yet another read: “Once Jocelyn’s dead … find a river to dump her.” Morgan said one note also described the Queen as a “she-devil” and added: “But she likes Joss Stone. Invited to Will’s wedding by Queen. Where’s the sense in that?”
Morgan told the court: “The items in their possession, the trips to the area, the fact that the intended victim was at home, the notes and maps all point to a determined effort on the part of the defendants to carry out the plan they had hatched some time before.”
The trial continues.
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