Beautician and a beast: Violent past of girl in 'fatal attraction' trial revealed

A GRIEVING mother has told how her son became entangled in a "fatal attraction" with a beauty therapist who was cleared of killing him during a cocaine-fuelled fight.

Laura King attacked Alexander "Blue" Thomson with a wine bottle at her flat in Newbattle Terrace, Morningside, in January this year.

The 20 year-old apprentice electrician died later following the late-night attack.

King, 24, and her friend, former private schoolboy Peter "PJ" Tarwinski, 25, stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of killing Mr Thomson.

But a jury yesterday cleared King and Tarwinski of culpable homicide after hearing evidence that chronic cocaine abuse was a factor in his death.

King was convicted of the reduced charge of assault. Tarwinski, who was said to be of no fixed abode, was found not guilty.

Mr Thomson's devastated mother Wendy Barlow, 53, attacked the justice system for failing her son, and said that in her eyes King was still the killer.

And she said the verdict may have been different had the court heard of King's violent past.

She said: "We tried hard to keep him away from her. He had everything to live for. Maybe if the jury had known her previous convictions it might have been different."

Mrs Barlow told how she knew the volatile couple were always set for tragedy and tried desperately to persuade her son not to see her.

She encouraged him to move to Newcastle to live with his older sister to escape the tempestuous relationship.

In court yesterday, King taunted Mrs Barlow and her family as she was led smirking back to the cells, mimicking at them to "keep the chin up".

Mrs Barlow said: "It was a case of fatal attraction. I was always afraid it would end with Blue being badly injured because King was a violent person. I know that she pulled a knife on him at least once.

"She had been to my house and could come across as a nice person at times. Blue was in love with her, but they could never stay together. There was a lot of jealously involved and she played on that. She was very manipulative and would phone him and send messages. Eventually he would go and see her.

"I was glad he moved to Newcastle last February to start his life afresh and get away from her. The lifestyle she was involved with was not good for him and he needed to get his head straight.

"He was decorating his new flat and was starting to enjoy life again. He had been miserable with her, always up and down. He wasn't the old Blue that we all knew and loved."

Mr Thomson had been living down south with his sister, Charlene, 24, a receptionist, and only travelled back to Scotland for the festive season.

Mrs Barlow said: "She was calling and texting and Blue couldn't resist going round. She still had a hold on him."

Mr Thomson's friends gave evidence about their volatile relationship during the trial, alleging that King wanted him dead.

Aysha Badamas, 20, who had also gone out with Mr Thomson, said that King had been having sex with Tarwinski behind her ex's back.

Ms Badamas told the court that she had been staying with King the week before Mr Thomson's death, and said her host claimed that she was going to get him "done in" and that she would pay someone to do it.

King allegedly made a claim to Daniella Purves – another of Blue's ex-lovers – that she "wished him dead".

In the witness box, King denied luring Mr Thomson to her flat for him to be assaulted by Tarwinski and egging on the fight.

Pathologist Juan Carlos Arango, who carried out a postmortem examination on Mr Thomson, revealed that the cause of death was chronic cocaine abuse and the assault. He said that the victim suffered no life-threatening injuries in a fight and may have collapsed and died without the altercation.

The medical examination found that Mr Thomson had a slightly enlarged heart, which could have resulted from his abuse of the drug, and he last used the drug between 30 minutes and an hour before he died. Following the verdict, Judge Mark Stewart QC told King she had been convicted of a "nasty assault".

"You have a record for a woman of your age which is to say the least concerning."

King was remanded in custody pending sentencing next month.

Mrs Barlow, now lives in Dunfermline, with her second husband, Alan Barlow, a partner with a builder's merchant. Mr Thomson's father, Alexander Thomson, 44, lives in Broughton, with his two sons Claye, 16, and Ben, 11.