Woman denies involvement in fatal shooting and acid attack on her Tinder date

Rachel Fulstow, 37, is accused of being in on the plan to harm Liam Smith, 38, who she had a one-night stand with in a York hotel.

Fulstow denies murder, claiming the first she knew Mr Smith had come to harm was when her boyfriend Michael Hillier, 39, turned up at her home after the fatal attack, Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester heard.

Mr Smith had been lured from his home, shot in the face, then had sulphuric acid poured over him as he lay dying.

The father-of-two, an electrician from Wigan, was declared dead at the scene, last November 24.

She claims she was too petrified of Hillier, a “significant” drug dealer, to go to the police so instead lied to detectives investigating the killing.

Both Hillier, from Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, and Fulstow, from Andrew Drive, York, deny murder. Hillier has admitted manslaughter.

Fulstow also denies a single count of perverting the course of justice.

She told the jury she was not involved in the plan to attack Mr Smith and was shocked when her boyfriend turned up at her home telling her what he had done after the attack.

Under cross examination Jason Pitter KC, prosecuting, put to her details of alleged incriminating searches made on her phone he suggested showed she was in on the plot.

Six months before the killing Fulstow admitted making searches for an electrician in Wigan and looking up the details of Mr Smith’s firm.

Mr Pitter said: “Innocent searches, for your curiosity?”

“Yes,” replied Fulstow.

Fulstow also made searches for a Shogun car, the same make as that driven by Hillier and later burnt out.

Searches were also found titled, ‘How long does it take a car to burn?’

Mr Pitter said: “That’s quite a specific thing to look for? Innocent search? Just a coincidence?”

“Yes,” replied Fulstow.

Mr Pitter continued: “The search was what was going to happen to the Shogun, wasn’t it?”

“No,” replied Fulstow.

Mr Pitter said: “Was this you gaining information to help with the overall plan?”

“No,” replied Fulstow again.

Fulstow said she did not know what prompted this search.

Further searches included, ‘Do speed cameras have ANPR’ (automatic number plate recognition), searches about the home address of Mr Smith, the response times for police and ambulance, the weather forecast in Wigan on the day of the attack, and home security cameras.

Fulstow denied any of the searches were to do with her involvement in the plan to harm Mr Smith.

And she denied sending bogus text messages to Hillier to provide an alibi so police would believe he was elsewhere when Mr Smith was attacked.

Both defendants went on holiday to Jamaica six days after Mr Smith’s death. But when they returned learned detectives had made an arrest to do with the false number plates used on the Shogun car.

Searches were made for the word, ‘Premeditated’ and and the word, ‘custodial’.

Mr Pitter suggested Hillier and Fulstow were, “beginning to panic”.

He continued: “Had the two of you in your planning sought to seriously hurt Mr Smith but when he had been killed things went too far? Is that why you were worried about him showing up at your house?”

“No,” replied Fulstow.

Earlier the court heard the attack on Mr Smith was allegedly prompted by a “one-night stand” between him and Fulstow, at a York hotel in 2019.

This angered her new boyfriend Hillier – whom she met more than a year later on dating app Hinge.

The jury heard Hillier was “led to believe” the one-night stand, arranged on Tinder, was a “non-consensual” sexual encounter, leading him to attack Mr Smith.

The trial was adjourned until Monday morning.