THE jury trying a former escort girl who hacked her wealthy lover to death with an axe was told by a judge they were sitting in a "court of law, not a court of morals".

Summing up at Leeds Crown Court, the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Norman Jones QC, told the seven men and four women they should be "analytical and rational in reaching a just conclusion".

The judge went on to say they had heard evidence from one witness, named in court as Mrs X, which would make even the most "hardened soul flinch".

Janet Charlton, aged 36, denies murdering former Harwood businessman Danny O'Brien at the house they shared in Midgley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, on May 23 last year.

Mr O'Brien, aged 40, who was found naked, handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded. He was struck with a fireman's axe around the head and upper body 20 times.

Charlton claims she had no choice but to kill her lover after he threatened to kill her and rape and kill her three-year-old daughter. She claims she acted in self-defence or was provoked. The judge told the jury: "This is a court of law not a court of morals. We are not here to judge her morality, we are not here to judge the moral code of Daniel O'Brien.

"This case is not to judge Daniel O'Brien, it is to decide whether Janet Charlton murdered him."

The judge told the jury that one of the most important questions they must ask themselves was "who took the axe upstairs into the bedroom".

(Proceeding)

In his summing up the judge said Charlton was a woman of good character who had never shown any violent tendencies in her past.

But he said: "Good character, members of the jury, cannot by itself provide a defence to a criminal charge, but it is evidence that you should take into consideration in favour of the defendant."

The judge went on to say Mr O'Brien could be witty, charming and intelligent, but he was also a "seriously flawed human being," who could be ruthless and obsessive.

He added: "We have looked in some detail into their lives and it has not painted a pretty picture and much has been said of Daniel O'Brien. Remember he is not here to defend himself."

The judge was earlier directed on the three possible verdicts they could reach.

They had been told they could find Charlton guilty of murder, not guilty of his murder but guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation, or not guilty completely.