A TEENAGE mum was strangled to death by her boyfriend in Widnes, a court has heard.

Kelsey Shaw, 17, was throttled twice round the neck by Callum Wilcocks, now 23.

She was assaulted at her friend’s flat in Foundry Lane, Halebank on Friday, April 29, 2011 after the pair had a row, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday.

Wilcocks, of Hale Drive, Speke, denies murder but admits manslaughter on the grounds of ‘diminished’ responsibility.

Simon Medland, QC, prosecuting, is adamant he was not suffering from any mental illness.

He told the jury that Wilcocks did not lose his self control, he lost his temper with fatal circumstances.

Kelsey, he said, bore the classic signs of being strangled.

Mr Medland said there was clear evidence of a forceful, prolonged and deliberate assault by a man who knew what he was doing.

The couple had a daughter, Caitlin, who was three in 2011, but their relationship was described to police by the defendant’s mother as ‘fiery’.

Sometimes they would split up and then get back together.

They met in August, 2011 when Kelsey was training to be a hairdresser at Riverside College.

The day before she died, she went to her friend, Beccy McDonald’s home to help put peroxide on her hair.

Wilcocks and his brother arrived at 10.30pm with a large bottle of vodka and £30 worth of cocaine.

All four took the drugs and drank some alcohol.

The boys left to score some drugs, the court heard, and returned at 3.45am.

Kelsey and the defendant went to bed together.

Beccy left the following day to check her bank account.

When she returned, she couldn’t get into the flat.

She heard heavy breathing behind the door as the defendant asked her to wait.

Mr Medland said that during that time Wilcocks was ‘choking the life out of her’ (Kelsey).

After 45 minutes, Beccy finally managed to push the door open and saw Kelsey’s arm flopped on the floor.

Wilcocks told her she was dead and admitted killing her.

The defendant phoned his mother and confessed, saying: ‘I’ve murdered Kelsey, I’ve murdered her, she’s dead’.

Paramedics tried to resuscitate Kelsey but to no avail.

She was taken to Whiston Hospital but declared dead at 11.35am on April 30.

When police arrived at the flat, Wilcocks initially denied the murder, saying he had found her dead.

He said they had argued about the fact that he had slept with her cousin during one of their separations.

He was later interviewed at length by police and gave a clear, rational account of their relationship.

Mr Medland said he needed no medical assistance and did not say he felt ill or could not cope.

Wilcocks admitted strangling Kelsey twice, saying: ‘I just put my arm round her and I just squeezed her dead hard, then she went unconscious and went on the floor’.

He put his arm around her neck again and pulled it tight.

Within 10 seconds, she was unconscious.

‘She just died’, he said.

The trial continues.