Mylee Billingham, 8, ‘desperately tried to fight off dad as he stabbed her
A SCHOOLGIRL desperately tried to fend her dad off as he stabbed her to death - before he told cops he wanted to keep his "little girl as she was", a court heard today.
Little Mylee Billingham, eight, had "defensive" wounds to her hands - allegedly suffered as she tried to bat away a knife.
She also had an injury to her lip area suggesting her attacker's hand was placed over her mouth, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
Her dad, William Billingham, is accused of stabbing Mylee through the chest at his home in Walsall, West Mids.
The 55-year-old was found "whimpering" by cops on top of his daughter, who was "covered in blood" with a 17cm knife wound.
He later told cops he wanted to keep his "little girl as she was" and insisted he "never wanted to hurt her", Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Forensic pathologist Brett Lockyer today told jurors a post mortem found Mylee had a "superficial" linear incised wound on her right middle finger.
He explained: "This type of injury could be caused by sharp force with a weapon with a cutting edge, such as a knife or glass.
"It's in an area that can be regarded as defensive. I would regard this as being suggestive of a defensive-type mechanism."
Jurors were yesterday shown haunting footage of Mylee smiling as she picked up sweets with her dad just two hours before he allegedly knifed her to death.
The pair can be seen entering the store in Walsall at around 6.53pm before heading back to Billingham's bungalow just before 7pm.
A harrowing 999 call was made just over two hours later by Mylee's mum Tracey Taundry, saying: "Please hurry up. He has dragged my baby inside the house, he’s got my baby inside. He is making her scream.
"He has got a big knife and is going to stab her.
"He has got a knife in his hand. He has got my baby and has a knife.”
She then asked "what if he has f***ing stabbed her?", adding: "She was screaming ‘please daddy don’t’.”
In police interviews, Billingham said he wanted Mylee to "stay a child" and was "worried about losing her to the internet".
He added: "I don’t recall doing it. I never thought I would be capable of hurting her.
"I wanted to protect her from change, from the Internet, from bad things.
"I wanted her just to be safe. I would never mean to hurt her. She is my world."
The dad-of-six also claimed he could not remember the events of most of the day but recalled "feeling pain" and "just wanting to be with her".
Jurors were previously told an account of the last moments of little Mylee's life, as she was stabbed to death through the chest.
Ms Taundry had gone to pick her daughter up from Billingham's bungalow in Brownhills, near Walsall, when she saw him pick up a knife.
He then allegedly put the knife to his ex's neck, saying "I'm going to f****** kill you."
Karim Khalil QC, prosecuting, said: "Tracey managed to move away. She also pushed Mylee away and started to run but she slipped.
"Then Tracey saw the defendant grab Mylee by the hood of her coat and he started to drag Mylee back towards the bungalow.
"All the time Mylee was shouting 'mummy, mummy' and 'please daddy, no daddy, stop it'."
After Mylee was taken inside, her mum banged on the door but could not open it as she shouted to her daughter, the court heard.
The jury were shown pictures of the gruesome scene cops found when they arrived at the home, with Billingham found face down "on top of his daughter".
Mr Khalil said: "Mylee was covered in blood and a grey colour."
She was raced to hospital on January 20 but sadly couldn't be saved, with a post mortem finding she suffered a 17cm-deep stab wound to her chest.
Billingham is said to have lashed out after his ex-girlfriend and Mylee's mum Tracey Taundry after she started a relationship with another woman, Lindsay Andrews.
During police interviews the dad said he could remember events leading up to the weekend but nothing after that.
Mr Khalil said: "He denied emphatically that it had anything to do with jealousy towards Miss Taundry and her new relationship and said it was not an act of revenge.
"The killing was swift, deliberate and brutal. It has all the hall marks of someone who knew what he was doing."
He is also said to have described what happened as a “moment of madness", the court was told.
The couple had broken up after he found “flirting” messages on Miss Taundry’s phone, but their relationship continued to be intimate, jurors were told yesterday.
But it was when Miss Taundry embarked on her new relationship that Billingham is alleged to have become hostile.
His ex-partner claimed he hacked into her Facebook account and dressed up in her knickers before sending a picture to her.
He later sent her affectionate texts and asked repeatedly if they could have sex, jurors were told.
He allegedly asked to have a bath at Miss Taundry's home on January 18, two days before Mylee was murdered, but she said no.
Billingham entered the property by a spare key on the same night, the prosecution told the court.
However, the couple went to a working mens' club and spent the night at the home of one of Billingham’s older daughters, Melissa.
Giving evidence previously, Melissa said everything was "perfectly normal" on the day before Mylee died, adding: "It did not made any sense and still doesn’t.”
Billingham was taken to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital for surgery to injuries caused on the same evening.
He pleaded not guilty to murder during a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court in June, and also denied a separate charge of making threats to kill Miss Taundry.
The trial continues.
