THE woman at the heart of a tangled set of relationships, that prosecutors say led to a brutal murder has spoken of her love for victim Simon Everitt.

Fiona Statham said she was in and out of relationships with Mr Everitt and defendants Jonathan Clarke and Jimi-Lee Stewart over a ninemonth period.

On June 7, last year, the day the 17-year-old was last seen alive, Miss Statham split with Mr Stewart to return to Mr Everitt, originally from Escomb, near Bishop Auckland.

She said: “I did not love Jimi, I loved Simon.”

Later that month, Mr Everitt’s body was found in a swamp near Great Yarmouth.

He had been assaulted, tied to a tree, doused in petrol and set on fire.

It is said he was abducted and killed by Mr Clarke, Mr Stewart and friend Maria Chandler. The men are said to have acted out of sexual jealously.

Miss Statham said that on the day Mr Everitt disappeared, she had spent the afternoon with him and Mr Stewart.

She returned to her flat to meet Mr Stewart there. Mr Everitt planned to join them, but felt ill and Mr Stewart never arrived.

She said she became concerned for Mr Everitt’s safety and rang Mr Stewart’s number.

The phone was answered, but no one spoke. She told the jury she heard traffic noises, a thumping sound and Mr Everitt shouting: “Jimi, help me, please, I’m begging you.”

She later questioned Mr Stewart but he said he could not remember it.

The court heard how Miss Statham, 19 at the time, had married another man in summer 2007. The relationship ended in October 2007 when she met Mr Clarke.

She separated from Mr Clarke in November 2007 to begin a relationship with Mr Everitt, and became engaged to him on Valentine’s Day last year.

Within a week she separated from him and started seeing Mr Stewart, but that ended on June 7 when she decided to return to Mr Everitt, who had moved to Yarmouth four years earlier.

Within a week of his disappearance, the mother-of-one went back to Mr Stewart after he told her Mr Everitt had returned to County Durham.

She told the court she had never been in a relationship with them all at the same time but admitted: “I did cheat on one of them once or twice.”

Mr Clarke, 19, from Telford, Mr Stewart, 25 and Ms Chandler, 40, both of Yarmouth, all deny murder.

The trial continues.