Killers who murdered friend and ate Cheerios jailed

Two women who murdered their vulnerable friend and left her on a blood-stained mattress have been jailed for life.

Amy Keely, 40, repeatedly stabbed Helen Bloomfield while Charlotte James, 29, smothered her with a pillow, before they helped themselves to breakfast cereal Cheerios.

Bloomfield, 52, was found dead in her flat in Braintree, Essex, a month later in April 2024, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Her killers were told they must serve a minimum of 19 years in prison before they would be considered for release.

The frequent drug users were convicted of Bloomfield's murder by jurors who took 23 hours and three minutes to deliver a majority verdict.

Sasha Wass KC, for Keely, said there appeared to be "no motive whatsoever" for the murder and it was "almost certainly fuelled by the consumption of Class A drugs".

The attack happened at about 01:00 GMT on 20 March 2024 at Bloomfield's one-bedroom flat in Aetheric Road.

She suffered 44 injuries, including stab and cut wounds inflicted by a knife and possibly a screwdriver, Judge Christopher Morgan said.

"Thereafter, you continued in your day-to-day lives, knowing that Helen Bloomfield's body lay undiscovered in her flat," he said, addressing James and Keely.

"You would have appreciated the anxiety and concern experienced by Helen's family, who were desperately trying to contact her in the weeks after you had killed her."

Bloomfield was found dead on a blood-stained mattress a month later by a concerned friend who used a ladder to enter her property.

Bloodied scissors and five fragments of a broken mirror were discovered in the flat.

James and Keely were identified as the killers after the latter confessed their involvement to other drug users, the court heard.

Bloomfield was described by the judge as someone who was "kind and gentle" and who had turned a corner in her troubled life.

Morgan continued: "Helen Bloomfield must have been terrified as she was held down in her own home by two people she knew and stabbed repeatedly."

Craig Rush, for James, said she had lived her adult life "through a veil of alcohol and Class A drugs".

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Bloomfield's niece said: "We should have been making new memories with Helen - instead we are left grieving her and everything that was supposed to be."

Keely and James were told they must serve at least 19 years and 175 days in prison.

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