A jury has found a young woman, 23, guilty of murdering of her 45-year-old boyfriend in Bicester after stabbing him twice.

Bailey Heywood, of Germander Way, Bicester was found guilty of the murder of Dale Bond by a twelve-strong jury on Friday (September 13) after a two-week trial at Oxford Crown Court.

The nursery worker stabbed the victim twice in the chest at his home address in Mullein Road, Bicester on March 13 this year after he had allegedly become angry at her receiving messages from her ex-boyfriend, Tom.

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She told the jury during the trial that she was scared of him after he had allegedly grabbed a knife and threatened to kill her ex-partner.

Giving evidence from the stand, Heywood said: “He carried on saying he was going to kill Tom. He said again he was going to ‘kill that c***’ and he went to stand up and I stabbed him.

“He had a knife in his hand and I thought he was going to stab me. I don’t know why, I just did it. I was scared.

“I wasn’t thinking I just did it. I stabbed him once and I leant over and the second as I stepped forwards.”

The prosecution’s case, as delivered by Jeremy Benson KC, was that Heywood had intended, at least, to cause Mr Bond ‘serious bodily harm’ which amounts to a murder charge.

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Mr Benson KC argued that Mr Bond had not been a threat to Heywood at the time.

Heywood denied murder as well as the alternative charge of manslaughter, which is the unlawful killing of a person but is not murder.

The seriousness of a manslaughter offence is determined by the harm caused to the victim and the culpability of the offender.

As an alternative charge, the jury did not need to consider a verdict for it and it will lay on the file.

The jury returned to deliver their verdicts on 11.41am after retiring on Thursday lunchtime (September 12).

Heywood audibly gasped when then verdicts were returned before sitting back down and looking vacant. She wearing a white jacket and was sat at the back of the dock with a prison guard.

Members of the public gallery, including Mr Bond's former wife Emma, cried as the verdict came back.

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Judge Ian Pringle, who was presiding over the case, thanked the jury for their service before dismissing them.

Addressing Heywood, who will now be sentenced at the same court on Monday morning (September 16), Judge Pringle said: “There is only one sentence I can pass in this case which is one of life imprisonment but there is a minimum term I must consider."