Ellesmere Port teenager pleads guilty to manslaughter months before retrial over murder of a Chester debt collector

Dec 15 2011 by Barry Ellams, Chester Chronicle

A TEENAGER has admitted her part in the killing of a debt collector at a Frodsham home she’d been sharing with convicted murderer Scott Davidson.

Rachael Horton, 19, of Little Sutton, offered a guilty plea to the manslaughter of Martin Ithell at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, after protesting her innocence throughout a six-week murder trial.

Horton was appearing in court to fix a date for her re-trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict on her part in the death of Mr Ithell in Hawthorne Road, Frodsham on March 11.

She had been jointly accused with Davidson, 23, of luring Mr Ithell to his death to wipe out a £26,000 debt owed by the couple.

Mr Ithell died from a shotgun wound to the heart and stab wounds to the neck.

Davidson later drove the dead body of Mr Ithell to Blacon Police Station. He had been shot in the heart and stabbed several times in the neck.

Davidson was convicted of murder on November 17.

On Monday, Horton’s guilty plea was accepted by the CPS before Judge Clement Goldstone QC adjourned the case for reports.

Davidson and Horton have both been remanded in custody for sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on January 5.