Kingswood murder trial LIVE as Abigail White found guilty of murder (2024)

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

Sentenced to life

Kingswood mum-of-three Abigail White has been jailed for life after a jury convicted her of murdering her partner Bradley Lewis. White, 24, of Chipperfield Drive, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Bradley in March but pleaded not guilty to his murder.

After a two-week trial at Bristol Crown Court a jury of six women and four men convicted her of murder. Trial judge The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser jailed her for life with a minimum jail term of 18 years.

Read the full sentencing report here

White pictured in police custody

Police have also shared a new image of Abigail White, taken while she was in custody.

New image shared of Bradley

An image of Bradley Lewis that hasn't been shared publicly before has been published by police. A detective described him as "a much-loved young man, a father, with his whole life ahead of him".

Family showed 'tremendous dignity'

DI Lavender added: "My thoughts, and the thoughts of the whole policing team, are with Bradley’s family, who have shown tremendous dignity and courage throughout. Their loss is unimaginable, and I hope this outcome will help them to feel the person responsible for his death has now been brought to justice.

“I want to thank all those who provided statements and information during our investigation, as well as the local community, who were clearly impacted by the gravity of this offence, but who supported us as we carried out enquiries at the scene and in their local area.”

'A life cruelly snatched away'

Avon and Somerset Police have shared a statement following today's conviction, criticising White's "cruel lie" and "callous and selfish actions".

Senior Investigating Officer DI Ben Lavender said: “Bradley was a much-loved young man, a father, with his whole life ahead of him. Abigail White cruelly snatched that life away by her callous and selfish actions.

“In her initial account, she tried to claim Bradley stabbed himself, which was a cruel lie, but due to the evidence gathered by our team she admitted a charge of manslaughter at a previous court hearing. This trial was held because the prosecution maintained she had murdered Bradley, and this was backed up by the jury’s verdict.

“We were determined to carry out a thorough and painstaking investigation to achieve justice for Bradley – with our team of officers and police staff gathering and reviewing evidence, including CCTV footage, an extensive number of social media posts and voice messages, as well as taking more than 200 statements and carrying out seven video-recorded interviews."

Abigail White gets life with a minimum of 18 years

The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser is passing sentence. He told the court she stabbed Bradley in the chest with a kitchen knife, 7cm into his heart. She has been convicted of his murder and no sentence can bring him back. He said his view was she intended to kill Bradley. The judge has sentenced White to a life sentence with a minimum of 18 years. The case has concluded.

Automatically a life sentence

Andrew Langdon KC, defending, said the sentence is automatically a life sentence and the court is concerned with setting a minimum term, bearing in mind aggravating and mitigating features. He said use of a weapon was an aggravating feature. He said White suffered from a personality disorder and violence went both ways between her and Bradley. He said though his client had immediately lied about stabbing Bradley she had pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. Mr Langdon said mitigating features included an intention to cause serious harm rather than an intention to kill. He said Abigail White cared very deeply for the person she killed.

Bradley's mum has said his loss will be with her the rest of her life

Rachel Hawkins, Bradley's mum, said part of her world ended when police told her Bradley had died. She said the loss will be with her for the rest of her life. She said Bradley was a loving son who had a great relationship with his siblings and it was painful to think he would not be there for his children. She said White killed her son and broke the heart of her family and she will never be forgiven.

We will be hearing victim impact statements before the sentence is delivered

Prosecutor Mrs Vigars KC has three victim impact statements to present. The first, from Bradley's dad Steve, says he wants the court to be aware of the devastating effect of Brad's killing. The news was completely traumatic and losing Bradley was the hardest thing he has ever experienced in his life, such is the overwhelming sense of grief and pain. He was always able to make you smile, his dad said, adding that his stress level had risen and he had had to undergo counselling. White had condemned him to a life of grief and he will never forgive her, he said.

The verdict is GUILTY OF MURDER

The jury has unanimously found White guilty of murder. White has left the dock. The judge says he will sentence her at 3.30pm.

Verdict shortly

Bristol Live understands the jury is about to deliver its verdict to Court One of Bristol Crown Court, where both public galleries are packed with onlookers.

Majority direction given to the jury

The judge has given the jury a direction in which he says the time has come when he can accept a verdict on which at least nine of the ten person panel can agree.

Jury continuing deliberations

The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser has sent the jury out to continue its discussion on the case.

Judge has sent the jury home for the evening

The judge has asked the jury to stop their deliberations for the day. They will resume deliberations at 10am tomorrow.

Jury has sent the judge a note

Welcome back. The jury has a query about route to verdict.

The judge has told them they all need to be agreed on a specific question before they consider the next. The panel consists of six women and four men, after two men were earlier discharged for legal reasons. The judge says there will be no verdict taken between 1pm and 2pm.

Jury sent home for the evening

The judge has sent the jury home and asked them to continue their deliberations tomorrow.

Jury retires to deliberate

The judge has asked the jury to retire and try to return a unanimous verdict.

Mental health experts

The judge has summed up medical evidence. He said a pathologist confirmed the blade penetrated Bradley's heart by 7cm and the force used was no more than moderate. The jury was reminded a consultant forensic psychiatrist called by the prosecution said White did not have any major mental health disorders but had a history of self-harm from 13 and had tried to get help for her feelings and emotional instability.

The psychiatrist concluded she suffered from a personality disorder and at the time of the stabbing she was stressed and upset and but knew what she was doing before, during and after the incident. A clinical psychologist called by the defence said 99 per cent of people were better than controlling their anger than White, who had traits of personality disorder, the court heard.

A consultant forensic psychiatrist called by the defence diagnosed White with borderline personality disorder which impaired her ability to form rational judgement. White accepts stabbing Bradley but says she intended only to shock and scare him and did not intend to cause him serious harm - at a time when her personality disorder impaired her ability to form rational judgement or exercise self-control.

Stabbing at home

When they got to her home the couple argued, the judge said. At some point White stabbed Bradley in the heart. White said she stabbed Bradley but picked up the knife just to shock and scare him.

She denied attempting to kill him but the whole incident was over before she thought about it. White called 999 several times and her neighbours went around, found a "frantic and hysterical White" and tried to give Bradley first aid until paramedics arrived on the scene.

White said she loved Bradley, the court heard, and was screaming uncontrollably before following Bradley to hospital, where he was pronounced dead and White was charged with murder.

Jury reminded of pub dispute

Focus has turned to events of March 25. The judge reminded the jury how White and her friend were in a park, Bradley joined them, and told her he didn't want to be with her anymore. Later White and friend went to the Horseshoe pub on Siston Common and were eventually joined by Bradley.

White and Bradley argued, the court heard, and White described herself as 6/7 out of ten intoxicated as well as taking a small amount of cocaine that evening. Bradley confided with a pal he wanted to leave White, but couldn't, the court heard.

White spat in a man's face, knocked Bradley's drinks over, and a man struck her to the ground - which she reported to police. Alfie Pike then gave Bradley and White a lift from the pub to White's home in Chipperfield Drive, the court heard. Mr Pike heard Bradley say "I'm dead when I get home" and he told Bradley to call him if he needed him.

Week before

The jury has been reminded about the week leading up to Bradley's killing on March 25. Over these days Bradley tells her he is "petrified of her" after she deliberately stabbed him in the arm on March 19.

White admitted she would go into a temper and said Bradley had punched her in the arm. The judge reminded the jury of how White confided in a friend she had "massive trust issues" and how White and Bradley's relationship noticeably deteriorated.

'Toxic' relationship

The judge told the jury White and Bradley's relationship was described as "toxic" or "very volatile" according to witnesses. White had a termination of Bradley's baby on March 17, the court heard. She said she sometimes took cocaine, had self-harmed and attempted suicide in the past.

She said she had not got on with Bradley's mum. Bradley and White were not supposed to be seeing each other but he was staying with her contrary to social services' wishes. White said there was violence both ways in the relationship. The jury was reminded that White had sent messages referring to her wanting to stab Bradley and another woman, but adding that she wouldn't because she couldn't risk prison.

Judge summing up

Welcome back to Court One, where The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser is summing up the evidence to the jury. The judge said the defendant is 24 and said she had a difficult childhood, ultimately being fostered before getting her own accommodation aged 18.

She met Bradley when she was 15 and, when she was nearly 18, they got together. The judge told the jury White had a child with someone else and the cheating "went both ways".

She worked on the OnlyFans website, she said, making £50,000 in her first year. She also said she and Bradley had engaged in a foursome and a foursome was proposed but not had with twin sisters.

Judge releases jury until Wednesday

The judge has told the jury they are not required tomorrow.

On Wednesday they will hear legal directions, listen to prosecution and defence closing speeches and the judge's summing up, before they retire to consider their verdict on Wednesday afternoon.

That's it for now.

The defence has finished their case

Dr Hillier told the court that on March 25 White was demonstrating heightened distress in her call to police from the Horseshoe pub, but then recovered control of her emotions when police called her back. He said in the second call she was making reasoned decisions.

He said she was highly likely to have been in a crisis at the time of killing Bradley. He said, ultimately, what happened was in the hands of the jury but it was consistent with White having a defence of diminished responsibility.

That evidence closes the defence case. That is the end of evidence in the case.

The judge has sent the jury away while he assesses timetabling for the trial - he will let them know that soon.

Judge adjourns for lunch

The judge has adjourned for lunch. We will be back this afternoon.

Dr Hillier said White had stresses that had been "gradually cranking up"

Under-cross examination, Dr Hillier said White was not incapable of making a conscious decision. He said she was not incapable of making a decision to use violence.

He told the court she had stresses that had existed for some time, which came and went but had been "gradually cranking up".

He was aware White had accused Bradley of multiple infidelity and the two of them had spent time in different houses in the weeks leading up to Bradley's death. Dr Hillier confirmed that on March 19 White stabbed Bradley in the arm in highly emotional circ*mstances.

Defence counsel Andrew Langdon KC has called consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Bradley Hillier to give evidence

Dr Hillier told the court he met White in June and discussed her background, use of alcohol and cocaine and her relationship with Bradley. White acknowledged her relationship with him had become "toxic" with arguments every day. Dr Hillier said his initial perception was that White suffers from borderline personality disorder.

He said White exhibited patterns in her life when she had done impulsive things, in keeping with personality disorder. He said he recommended White was assessed by a psychologist. In a second meeting in July, Dr Hillier discussed with White events on March 25.

He said White told him what she told the jury. He concluded she met the criteria for moderate/severe personality disorder prior, during and after the alleged murder. His opinion was White suffers from a medically recognised condition and in a stressful crisis it manifested and she had difficulty exercising self-control.

He said in extreme, heightened emotion White's appreciation of what she was doing could have been impaired by her personality disorder. He said White's account of what happened was consistent with her having a personality disorder with emotionally unstable traits.

Dr Hillier said White's consumption of alcohol and a small amount of cocaine was not a key issue that led her to act in the way she did.

White's condition triggered "disproportionate anger"

The psychologist said White's condition triggered "disproportionate anger" about Bradley's perceived infidelity and her condition was more significant than drink and drugs lowering her threshold for violence.

Dr Krljes told the court White was not incapable of making a conscious decision.

Her evidence has concluded.

Doctor said White had "very little coping strategy for controlling anger"

Dr Krljes administered several tests on White, she said - saying more than 99 percent of people would be better at controlling their anger than White. She said 98 percent of people would be better at controlling impulsivity than White.

She said she had never seen such high scores after hundreds of tests on men and women. The doctor said White had very little coping strategy for controlling her anger. She told the court White's condition meant when roused the thinking part of her brain shut down.