Woman accused of killing sugar daddy blamed it on buddies, court docket hears

A woman accused of knifing her sugar daddy to death told police ‘I did f*** all’ and blamed it on her two friends she invited into his home for drinks, a court has heard. 

Lauren Harris, 29, allegedly stabbed retired Ministry of Defence computer expert Mark Wilcox, 65, twice in the chest as he sat in his armchair at his seafront home in Colwyn Bay, Wales.

When she was interviewed by police Harris denied playing any part in his killing, the court was told, and asked murder detectives: ‘Why am I getting nicked?’   

The murder trial previously heard how Harris fled in Mr Wilcox’s red Volvo with her two male pals David Webster, 43, and Thomas Whiteley, 33, who she had invited over for a night of ‘drinking and drug-taking’.

Footage captured Harris sitting in the driver’s seat of Mr Wilcox’s car outside his home, shouting ‘come on’ and sounding the horn repeatedly.

Once Webster and Whiteley entered the vehicle, she drove away, but less than a minute later, the car crashed.

Mr Wilcox had started a relationship with Harris because he ‘wanted to look after her’ in his retirement before repeatedly lending her money and even inviting her to stay at his home.

But the court heard how Harris ‘took advantage’ of the grandfather and father-of-two, who was described by his family as a ‘gregarious’ and ‘generous’ man. 

The jury at Mold crown court was shown footage of Harris’ arrest and interviews while in custody. 

She was heard asking an officer about Mr Wilcox and ‘if he had died’.

Harris then added: ‘I’m in here because of what them two have done. It wasn’t me.’

After being told she was being arrested on suspicion of murder, she said: ‘No one’s done anything wrong. What do you mean, murder?

‘I’m not being funny, I don’t know why you’ve pulled me in for this when there are another two people that have done what they’ve done – and you’re pulling me in for the s*** that they’ve done.

‘Why am I getting nicked for it? It doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve done f*** all, anyway.’

Then an officer heard Harris whispering to herself: ‘They’ve killed him, haven’t they?’

The trial was previously told Harris had moved in with Mr Wilcox, who retired in October last year.

But on November 20 then night suddenly turned ‘nasty and violent’ after Harris had  invited Webster and Whiteley into the home.

Prosecutor Andrew Ford KC said: ‘Mr Wilcox was a gregarious, generous man whose generosity spilled over with the people he met, including, sometimes, strangers’.

He met Harris outside the Black Cloak pub in Colwyn Bay when they ‘got talking and a relationship developed between them.’

Mr Ford said: ‘Harris took advantage of Mr Wilcox, and that, to her, he presented an opportunity from which she could benefit.’

When asked about the relationship, Mr Wilcox would say he wanted to ‘help’ or ‘save’ Harris.

The court heard Mr Wilcox appeared to be repeatedly lending Harris money.

So concerned were his four sons about their father’s apparent decline that one of their partners started a WhatsApp group with them, named ‘dad brigade’, to keep a ‘mutual eye on him’.

By the time of his death, his bank account was overdrawn, with more than £12,000 having been withdrawn from it between June and November 2023.

She had moved into his home – then later invited Webster and Whiteley for a drinking session at the house on the seafront in Colwyn Bay.

Mr Ford told the jury that Mr Wilcox was stabbed twice in the chest, and suffered ‘significant blows to the head’.

Harris is accused of being the one who carried out the stabbings – but the court heard all three were ‘ultimately responsible for Mr Wilcox’s death’.

At 2.10am on November 20 last year Harris emerged from Mr Wilcox’s home to get into his red Volvo car in a bid to escape.

Footage captured Harris sitting in the driver’s seat of Mr Wilcox’s car outside his home, shouting ‘come on’ and sounding the horn repeatedly.

Once Webster and Whiteley entered the vehicle, she drove away, but less than a minute later, the car crashed.

Harris and Webster fled the scene together, and could be heard saying: ‘I stabbed him twice’ and telling him to ‘take your hat off; it’ll have his blood on’.

When police learnt that Mr Wilcox was the registered keeper of the Volvo, they called at his house. Police found Mr Wilcox unresponsive in an armchair. He was pronounced dead at 5.15am.

A pathologist found that Mr Wilcox sustained two stab wounds, as well as injuries consistent with him having been struck with a solid object – ‘such as a blood-stained vodka bottle.’

When interviewed by police, Harris denied any involvement in Mr Wilcox’s death.

Whiteley said he ‘bumped into’ Harris and Webster that night – and they all went to the home of someone Harris called her ‘sugar daddy’.

Mr Ford said: ‘We say all three are responsible for Mr Wilcox’s death.

‘A flashpoint occurred after some hours of drinking and drug-taking, at which events suddenly turned nasty and violent.

‘We say it was an attack in which he was stabbed twice, and assaulted with a weapon, causing significant and different injuries.’

Father-of-four Mr Wilcox was described by his family at the time of his death as ‘such a kind and wonderful person, who always cared for the people he loved’.

Mr Wilcox worked for the Ministry of Defence and the BBC, then as a freelance IT specialist upon moving to Colwyn Bay, before retiring at the age of 65,

He retired in October just weeks before he died in November. The father-of-four died before he had the chance to hold his newly-born ninth grandchild.

In a statement released by his family after his death, they said: ‘Mark was a really generous person. If he saw someone homeless on the street, he’d often buy them hot chocolate or a mug of tea. If they were hungry, he’d buy them food.’

Harris, of no fixed abode, Webster, of Widnes, and Whiteley, of Old Colwyn, all deny murder at Mold Crown Court. The trial continues.