A woman has appeared in court accused of sending photos of herself performing a sex act on another man to her ex-boyfriend, which incited the latter to commit murder.
Sarah Bramley stands accused of inciting David Saunders to murder Michael Lawson in July 2017.
Thirty-three-year-old Saunders was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison last December after he admitted to Lawson's murder.
He stabbed Lawson to death with a kitchen knife in a single blow at a house in Geneva Lane, Darlington.
Now, the Northern Echo reports that Bramley is to stand trial on two incitement charges in the next month.
Bramley was brought in for questioning after she returned to the UK from Australia. It is thought that she moved continents after Mr Lawton was murdered.
She has been formally charged with two counts of assisting in the commission of an offence. The court has received papers that allege that she "sent David Saunders a photograph of her with another male, advised him of the whereabouts of that other male and invited David Saunders over to assault said other male."
Back in December at his trial, Saunders' defence presented the case that he had not intended to kill Mr Lawson and that he had not brought the murder weapon with him himself.
The judge ruling on the case, Stephen Ashurst, ruled against Saunders, claiming that he was 'spoiling for a fight'.
Saunders had had six cans of lager and several lines of cocaine at the time and sent a message to Bramley that said: "I'm coming over, I'm going to knock fuck out of him. Watch."
The two charges that Bramley faces related to texts that she sent to Saunders in the lead-up to the killing.
The court heard that she performed a sex act on Lawson then send pictures of it to Saunders, before telling Lawson to get out of the house.
She sent one text to Saunders that read: "I have just smashed the lad clean in the face because he wouldn't go home. What have I got myself involved with?"
She followed that with another that said: "He is outside the house, feel free to smack the c***."
After Saunders' court appearance, Lawson's mother, Anne Satterthwaite said: "The outcome of today ultimately changes nothing for our family. Nothing will bring Michael back or take away the pain of his loss.
"His son will always be missing his daddy.
"However we needed justice for him and though today the murderer has been brought to justice the instigator has not. The trial has only confirmed what we knew - Michael was an innocent victim."
Bramley entered no plea at a court hearing on Thursday at Newton Aycliffe magistrates court.
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