A MAN accused of murder spoke of a “devil and angel on his shoulder” just hours before killing his partner, a court heard.

Charlie Booth, 27, of Albert Road, in Saltaire, is accused of murdering 26-year-old Lauren Howe on July 24 last year.

He is on trial at Leeds Crown Court (LCC).

Booth and Ms Howe were a couple, getting together when the latter was 15 and had two children together.

West Yorkshire Police was notified by Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) at 9.46am on July 24 that they were treating an injured woman after an incident in Tennis Way, Baildon.

Ms Howe died at the scene, but her death was later certified at hospital.

Booth denies murder but has admitted to killing his partner, Ms Howe.

But Nicholas Lumley KC, for the prosecution, said: "His case will be I did not intend to cause such serious harm, I did not mean it, it was manslaughter."

The prosecution say the level of force needed to cause the injury that killed Ms Howe “can only mean an intention to cause, at the very least, real serious harm”.

Ms Howe died from an internal injury - her liver torn was open in an injury usually seen "after a car crash or fall from height”.

This led to heavy bleeding in her abdominal cavity (tummy).

She suffered a number of other injuries too.

More witnesses were called as part of the prosecution’s case on Friday in court, one of whom was Jason Bass, a friend of Booth.

Mr Bass lived on Coach Road in 2022, just a few minutes away from the flat shared by Ms Howe and Booth.

He said himself, Booth and others would regularly go round to a friend’s house and would sometimes take drugs but had only met Ms Howe a few times.

On the night before the 26-year-old was killed, at between 9pm and 10pm, Booth walked into Mr Bass’s house while his neighbour was there.

Ms Howe at this point had just arrived at the house of her sister, Leigha Howe, 23, to celebrate her birthday and Mr Bass told the court Booth was “p**sed” with a can of lager in his hand.

Mr Bass described what Booth said at some time during that period as “very weird”.

He said: “I can't remember a lot of it, but there was some point about the devil and angel on his shoulder, talking and stuff like that, the strongest one is on steroids or something like that.”

Mr Bass thinks Booth mentioned Ms Howe at this point and said she “was doing his head in” but the friend of three to four years could not remember whether Booth stipulated which of the characters were on steroids

He thinks his friend was on crack cocaine and Mr Bass gave him “a little” of the substance and they both smoked it together.

Mr Bass said it “always made him a bit weird, paranoid, really paranoid”.

The court heard Mr Bass walked Booth home but the 27-year-old reappeared at Mr Bass’s neighbour’s house just after 11pm, where he had since visited.

Booth said he had dropped a television off outside Mr Bass’s flat and wanted £10 for it but his friend was not interested, according to Mr Bass.

He said Booth also told him at that point that Ms Howe had “got rid of him” and that he said “me head’s f**ked, she’s left me”.

Frida Hussain KC questioned this account in cross-examination, claiming Mr Bass was getting Ms Howe leaving Booth and going out confused.

Mr Bass denied this.

The court also heard more about a rumour surrounding Ms Howe and another man, which was first brought up by Mr Bass’s neighbours who lived together a few days before the tragic death, according to Mr Bass.

The court heard on Thursday that the neighbours told Booth that Ms Howe had been seeing and sleeping with one of his friends when she said she was going to see her mum.

The jury heard this was founded to be untrue but Mr Bass said “his head was messed over it”.

The trial continues.