A NARCISSIST alleged to have stabbed his ex-partner to death in the street was driven away from the scene by an older neighbour who was in his thrall, a court has heard.

Kelly Franklin, the mother of Torbjorn Kettlewell's three children, was stabbed more than 30 times in a Hartlepool street. 

Teesside Crown Court was told Kettlewell was helped to flee by married Julie Wass, 48, who had started a sexual relationship with him.

Both Kettlewell, 30, and Wass deny murdering Ms Franklin, 29, and are on trial at Teesside Crown Court.

After splitting with his ex-partner, Kettlewell continued to hope to get her and the older woman together in a threesome, the court heard.

Kettlewell, who changed his name from Ian because he was fascinated with a video game character called Torbjorn, lost custody of their children after he accidentally shot one of them in the face with a high-powered air rifle.

The court heard he was angry with his ex-partner and also concerned she was moving on with her life.

At around 9pm on August 3, he searched for her and "brutally" attacked Ms Franklin in Oxford Road with a kitchen knife he took from his flat.

Terrified members of the public witnessed the stabbing, in which she suffered catastrophic injuries.

Wass had driven him there and then sped him away from the scene, taking him to woods in Trimdon, County Durham, where he could hide and destroy his phone.

One witness said she had been revving the engine before she drove off, another heard a horn and a third heard him shout "get me out of here".

Jamie Hill QC, prosecuting, said: "We say this is a classic and terrible case of a defendant who decided 'if I cannot have her then nobody else will'."

Mr Hill said Kettlewell was assisted by Wass, who was his "close friend and sometime lover".

After driving Kettlewell away, Wass went back to the murder scene, which by then had been cordoned off and spoke to police, tearfully telling an officer she had witnessed the murder.

Wass identified herself as the victim's neighbour and said she had known them both for years.

She also warned police Kettlewell could be going to harm a social worker involved in the custody case.

Wass was captured on the officer's body-worn camera saying: "He has always sworn down if he ever killed Kelly he would go for the social worker."

Mr Hill said Wass failed to mention to police that she had been with Kettlewell through much of the day or that she had driven him to his hiding place.

Kettlewell and Ms Franklin had dated since they were teenagers and their families became concerned about his behaviour towards his partner and their three children, the court heard.

Social services got involved, Mr Hill said, and there were "particular concerns about Mr Kettlewell's coercive and psychologically abusive behaviour towards Kelly".

He would try to blame everyone but himself, Mr Hill said.

"The whole picture is of someone who is utterly self-centred and indeed narcissistic," he said.

Mr Hill said: "He spent his life surrounded by expensive computer equipment, drinking, gaming, and perhaps more concerningly trying to draw Kelly into his sexual fantasies involving other women."

The prosecution also said he was fascinated by knives and the Army, although he had never served.

Ms Franklin "waited on him hand and foot" and although she loved her children, at times she was so busy doing his bidding she could not care for them properly, the court heard.

They were taken into care when he accidentally shot one of them and Ms Franklin tried to cover for him, Mr Hill said.

The couple split in 2017 and she was helped by a domestic abuse charity and took parenting classes to win them back.

It was then that Kettlewell bombarded her with Facebook messages, Mr Hill said, threatening her and obsessing that she had a new partner.

Mr Hill said: "This obviously did not prevent him from having other relationships himself, including one with his co-accused Julie Wass."

He said Kettlewell was obsessed with sex and was determined to get Mrs Wass, who has four daughters, and his ex-partner together.

Mr Hill said: "He was hoping to draw her into his sexual fantasies and involve her with Kelly as well."

He said Wass would spend a long periods at his flat, would drive him around, go shopping for him and was "generally available at his beck and call".

He added: "It is also apparent that Julie Wass immersed herself in the relationship with Mr Kettlewell and Kelly Franklin, not just by sleeping with him, she seems to have been completely in his thrall."

The trial continues.