The friend of a woman killed by her ex-boyfriend has told his trial she was afraid she might have been meeting him on the night in question.
Eric Locke of St. JohnÂ’s Park East in Clondalkin in Dublin admits strangling her in a hotel room in Tallaght but denies the murder charge.
During text chats after their break-up, Eric Locke accused Sonia Blount, a 31-year-old single mother, of blanking him at work.
He said it made him feel like a “monster”. She denied doing it.
He accused her of being cold-hearted for dumping him through texts. She said that wasnÂ’t the case.
She also said she hadnÂ’t heard a rumour that he was stalking her but did ask him to stop looking at her at work because it was freaking her out.
After contact between them ended, it is the prosecutionÂ’s case that he assumed a false identity online and lured her to the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght where he strangled her on Feb 16th 2014.
Her friend Susan Kelly told the jury theyÂ’d arranged to go out and she was afraid Sonia might be meeting Eric when she cancelled at the last minute.
Mr. Locke admits killing her but claims he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time.
Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney reports:
