The defendant in the case of stabbed Redmond woman Chloe Whittle has been convicted of manslaughter, avoiding a murder charge.

Ms Whittle won £13 million playing the lottery in March 2019. Jade Hartman, a friend of the victim, had attempted to steal Ms Whittle’s belongings, as she walked home through a Redmond park.

Police arrested the 23-year-old woman after a Redmond police detective discovered evidence connecting her with the death. During the trial, Ms Hartman admitted to killing Ms Whittle, but claimed it was accidental and denied the charge of murder.

In court, she said “I only intended to steal her watch. It was worth a lot of money, more than enough to clear my debts. I never meant to kill her.”

According to Ms Hartman, her mugging attempt went awry and in an unfortnuate turn of events, Ms Hartman fell on Ms Whittle, forcing a knife in Ms Whittle’s pocket into her chest.

Barbara Funnell, counsel for the defence, said after court that “my client had taken out some unwise loans that she had no means of paying back, and took to thievery to secure the money. She admits to this, and regrets that her actions led to her friend’s death, so we are thankful she was able to avoid a murder conviction.”

Ms Hartman also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft. Her co-conspirator, Jack Piper – who was stuck on a train at the time of the incident -was also found guilty of the same charge.

It emerged that the knife had been stolen by Ms Whittle from the restaurant she had eaten at that night, and, after being wiped clean, was returned by Ms Hartman in an attempt to hide the evidence. The knife was then cleaned by unassuming dishwashing staff and put back into service. The owner of the restaurant, who asked for anonymity, said “we have no way of knowing which knife was the knife, so we’re replacing all our knives so our diners can be 100% certain that the knife they use hasn’t been used as a murder weapon.”

Ms Hartman is due in court next week for sentencing.

‘One of a Kind’

Many of the people close to Chloe were in court today to hear the verdict. Chloe’s father Jeremy Whittle said “I’m glad to see justice prevail, but it won’t ease the fact that she was robbed from us far too soon. I was awful to her the night she died, getting angry with her for not sharing her lottery winnings. I’m devastated that I never got the chance to apologise, and I’ll never forgive myself for the way I spent my last moments with her.”

Chloe’s boyfriend Nathaniel Bettsley, who was in Cheltenham to watch the Gold Cup race when Chloe died, said “she was one of a kind. I can’t help but feel a bit responsible – I persuaded her to buy that lotto ticket, she hadn’t played before she met me. If she hadn’t bought that ticket, maybe none of this would’ve happened. I definitely think I should’ve been more caring when she won – I let my greed get the better of me.”

Chloe’s former employer, Amanda Huxley, who was located in a different Redmond park on the night of Chloe’s death, said “hopefully the verdict will help to bring the community some closure. I speak for everyone at the salon when I say we’ll miss her forever. She helped turn the business around, and I was upset when she chose to leave us. Looking back now, I wish I had been more supportive. I’m certainly glad Chloe never saw that sinister letter that was shown as evidence in the court proceedings.”

The letter in question had been sent by Nicole Dupp, a former friend of Chloe’s. When approached for comment, she said “I never meant to send that letter. I regret ever writing it. I wrote it and sealed it in an envelope just to vent my fury, it was never my intention to actually post it to Chloe and have her read it. It was my mum who found the envelope and, not knowing what it was, put it in the post. It was all a mistake.”