Woman found sister's body and knifeman, jury told

A woman has described running out of a house in fear after finding her sister's body and a man holding a large knife.

In a police video played at Winchester Crown Court, Arleta Derkacz said she discovered her sister dead in a bedroom after Stephen Sexton claimed she was not in the property.

Sexton, from Totton, Hampshire, denies raping and murdering 37-year-old Joanna Derkacz at her home in Waterlooville in December 2023 shortly after she had broken up with him.

The 39-year-old, of Cherrywood Gardens, also denies behaving in a coercive or controlling manner.

Prosecutors allege Derkacz was murdered during the early hours of 28 December 2023.

Her body was found by her sister at the house in Nevinson Way later that morning.

Post-mortem examinations found fractures in the victim's neck, the jury previously heard.

Sexton's defence team disputes the timing of the fractures, and claims they could have occurred during further medical examinations.

In the taped interviews, Arleta Derkacz said Joanna told her Sexton had previously tried to choke her and that she "couldn't breathe".

The witness also told the police she came down the stairs after seeing her sister's body and found Sexton holding a "big kitchen knife".

She claimed he then said: "You're not leaving".

The jury heard her tell detectives: "I just saw my sister being dead. He had nothing to lose; he'd just killed my sister.

"He could have followed me upstairs and stabbed me".

The court heard she was pulled out of the house by her partner. She said she was "petrified" and "didn't look back".

During cross-examination, Arleta Derkacz told the jury that in 2018 Joanna had had an epileptic seizure.

She said her sister was taken to hospital by ambulance, had been frothing at the mouth and seemed confused.

Arleta Derkacz also said her sister had taken drugs when she was out partying.

Derkacz told the court Stephen Sexton had met Joanna Derkacz on a dating app, and that she had "treated him like family".

But from Christmas 2022 onwards she said she hated him. This was because, she told the jury, Sexton tried to interfere in her relationship with her partner.

The trial is expected to last several weeks.