A woman charged in connection with an alleged mob-handed murder has denied acting as a lookout for group as the fatal attack took place.

Helen Jones was sitting in the 4x4 when the group turned up near Lee Clarkson’s home in Bishop Auckland, just minutes before he suffered three abdominal knife wounds.

The 45-year-old was charged alongside her husband, Karl, after Mr Clarkson died following a violent attack last year.

The mother-of-two told Teesside Crown Court that she didn’t see any weapons in the Land Rover Freelander and categorically denied that she was carrying a bat.

Police at the scene on the evening of the alleged murder of Lee Clarkson on West Lane, Bishop AucklandPolice at the scene on the evening of the alleged murder of Lee Clarkson on West Lane, Bishop Auckland (Image: TERRY BLACKBURN)

Giving evidence during the trial, Peter Makepeace KC, representing Jones, asked her if she left the car or acted as a lookout during the incident.

She replied: “I never got out of the car – that’s the god’s honest truth.”

Mr Makepeace asked: “Were you doing anything to assist or encourage what was going on?” Jones replied: “No.”

Mr Makepeace asked: “Did you know what was going on at that address?" Jones replied: “No.”

When asked what happened after the vehicle left the West Lane area of Bishop Auckland, the defendant said the young lad said - ‘I have done him or I have chivved him’.

She said: “He said ‘I need to get home; I have got claret all over me’. I didn’t see any blood on him but he was wearing dark clothing.”

The court heard how Jones was taken hospital when police arrested her at her home and she thought she may have murdered her husband while she was under the influence of drugs when they questioned her about the killing.

Lee ClarksonLee Clarkson (Image: DURHAM CONSTABULARY)

The 42-year-old Mr Clarkson was allegedly attacked in a case of mistaken identity as the group were looking for his housemate, who they believed had burgled the home of co-accused Michael Richardson.

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Jurors had heard how their intended target managed to jump out of a window and flee the scene in Bishop Auckland but Mr Clarkson was not so lucky.

Michael Richardson, 52, of Boddy Street, Bishop Auckland; Karl Jones, 45, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Helen Jones, 43, of General Bucher Court, Bishop Auckland; Craig Dent, 42, of Gray Street, Eldon Lane; and the teenager who cannot be named for legal reasons, are all on trial for murder.

Two members of the group, Craig Dent and the 17-year-old have admitted manslaughter but continue to deny murder of Mr Clarkson outside his home on West Lane in Bishop Auckland on November 29 last year.

The murder trial continues.