EDITOR'S CHOICE NEWS Finchley policeman avoids jail after stealing confiscated drugs Cries from 'the wilderness' save ticket offices Time wasters: lax patients cost NHS £5m a year VIDEO NEWS Linford Christie and Darren Campbell come to Grahame Park SPORT Barnet FC Community Fun Day EBOG look to youth ON THE BLOGS Dennis Signy Pele gives me a lift Rog T Three cheers for a Brownite Freer Mike Freer Pushing water up hill with a fork VOTE IN OUR POLL Wheelie bin theft victims billed £21k MIDDLESEX CRICKET Shah misses out on Test place South African test for Middlesex FREETIME Picnic concert just the wicket Sing songs of old with Sunnie LETTERS Plenty to learn about planning Forum flack is absurd TRAVEL FEATURES Austria, without the skis The new centre of Europe GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL Just register

Most read Comments 1 Time wasters: lax patients cost NHS £5m a year 2 ‘War zone’ club has its licence revoked 3 Polling allegations to be investigated 4 Henlys Corner plans in doubt 5 Cries from 'the wilderness' save ticket offices 6 Nursing a hospital to optimum health 7 Finchley policeman avoids jail after stealing confiscated drugs 8 Bees set for pre-season training 9 Number of race crimes on the rise 10 Barnet FC Community Fun Day Today | 7 Days 1 University honours Coleman for community commitment 2 Wheelie bin theft victims billed £21k 3 Polling allegations to be investigated 4 Free PCs for Barnet OAPs 5 Number of race crimes on the rise 6 Pit bull seized as police target reckless owners 7 GPs are here to stay 8 Take a lead on dog laws 9 Blame game in the lane 10 Football coach denied access to his field of dreams

Killer Mark Russell

A Potters Bar woman who shouted encouragement as her boyfriend stabbed her ex-lover to death was convicted of murder along with him yesterday.

Kelly Sanchez, 21, of Mutton Lane, and her partner, Mark Russell, 41, of Chester Close, both in Potters Bar, lay in wait for 40-year-old father-of-two John Redhead outside his flat on August 26 last year, before Russell fatally attacked him.

They were both found guilty of murder unanimously by a jury at St Albans Crown Court.

Judge Michael Baker QC jailed Russell for life, with a minimum of 14 years to serve. He said the murder had been "fuelled by sexual jealousy".

Sanchez, who will be sentenced at a later date, wept and cried "mum" as the verdict was delivered.

Ann Evans, for the prosecution, told the court Sanchez had played a pivotal role in the events leading up to the attack.

She said: "She wound him up to do it. She aided and abetted Mr Russell to commit this crime. The reason John Redhead died was because of her."

Mr Redhead, who at the time was living in Barnet Road, had ended the relationship with Sanchez three weeks before the attack took place, after he discovered she was cheating on him.

Girlfriend: Kelly Sanchez

She then began a relationship with Russell, but told the court she was still in love with Mr Redhead and had arranged to meet him at The Bridge pub, in Potters Bar, on the night of the murder.

Sanchez claimed she had a civil conversation with him outside the pub while they were smoking but, when she tried to go inside, Mr Redhead's friend and flatmate, John Darling, a bouncer at the pub, barred her and called her a "slag".

Sanchez, who had been taking cocaine and drinking heavily, threatened Mr Darling and was then picked up by Russell. The two drove up and down the road outside the pub, shouting abuse at Mr Darling though the car window.

They later drove to the flat shared by Mr Darling and Mr Redhead and lay in wait for the pair to return. Mrs Evans told the court that when they did, Russell "emerged from the darkness".

She said: "He had a large carving knife in his hand. He ran towards John Redhead shouting you are gonna get it'. He plunged the knife into him four times."

Mr Redhead was stabbed so hard one wound fatally punctured his heart and the knife was left embedded in his arm. CCTV cameras caught him collapsing in the forecourt of a petrol station.

Sanchez encouraged him to stab Mr Darling, shouting: "Do him in an' all, stick it in him an' all."

Detective Inspector Steve Healy, from Hertfordshire Constabulary's major crime unit, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the case.

He added: "John Redhead died after a violent attack which was premeditated by the defendants, who had lain in wait for him to return home. He was stabbed several times and his injuries resulted in his very untimely death.

"It was an extremely traumatic ordeal for John's family to go through, and we only hope they will be able to find some peace and move forward with their lives after this very tragic event."

8:31am Thursday 27th March 2008

Girlfriend: Kelly Sanchez

Girlfriend: Kelly Sanchez

Print

Email this

Thanks for your comments - this feedback is now closed