'˜I didn't think she would die of that' '“ teenager tells of savage attack on Angela Wrightson

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she didn’t think they had killed her because people “only die when you get cancer, shot in the head or stabbed in the heart”.

Two girls, aged 13 and 14 when Ms Wrightson was killed at her home in Stephen Street, Hartlepool, in December 2014, are on trial for murder at Leeds Crown Court.

Ms Wrightson suffered more than 100 different injuries after being attacked with a variety of household items including a wicker table, a television, a wooden stick with screws protruding from it, and a glass vase.

Giving evidence at the hearing the older girl, who is now 15, told how she and the younger defendant were drinking in Ms Wrightson’s home when violence flared.

Under questioning from her barrister, Jamie Hill QC, the girl told how Ms Wrightson had stood up but her co-accused ordered her to sit down.

She said: “(Younger girl) stood up and, y’know the wooden table? (Younger girl) told me to pick that up with her, so I did.”

Giving evidence via videolink, she added: “I got hold of two bottom legs and (younger girl) got hold of the other two. Then we hit Angie with it. I think it was in the face.”

Asked by Mr Hill how many times they hit Ms Wrightson with the table, the girl replied “twice or sumat, I think”.

The girl also described how she and her friend kicked Ms Wrightson in the face before the younger girl kicked a television set onto her head and then began hitting her with a wooden stick.

The defendant also said that her co-accused was “shouting” at Ms Wrightson, saying “she deserved it”.

“Angie got up and walked over to the fireplace and then (younger girl) was telling me to knock her out again,” she said.

The girl added that she had witnessed her co-accused stamping on the victim.

When asked by Mr Hill if she had “meant to hurt” Ms Wrightson during the assault, the girl replied: “Yeah, but not really bad though.

“I knew that I was going to hurt her but I didn’t mean to. I was just getting told to do it.”

Both girls were captured on CCTV leaving Ms Wrightson’s home just after 11pm.

When asked by Mr Hill if she thought Ms Wrightson might be dead because of the injuries inflicted on her, the older defendant said: “I didn’t think that she would die of that.

“When I was 14, I thought that you could only die when you got cancer, or when you got shot in the head or stabbed in the heart.

“That’s what I thought when I was 14.”

Ms Wrightson’s body was found the following morning by her landlord.

The girl said she was now prone to self-harming following the attack.

When asked by Mr Hill how she now felt about “the fact that Angela is dead,” she replied: “I just feel like hurting myself loads and trying to kill myself.”

Both girls admit to being present at the time the injuries were inflicted.

The older girl admits that she struck Miss Wrightson but the younger girl says she played no part in the attack.

Both defendants deny murder.

l The trial continues