Joss Stone admits lax security
International pop star Joss Stone told a court she leaves her front door open and rarely sets her burglar alarm.
The 25-year-old singer spoke at the trial of Kevin Liverpool and Junior Bradshaw - who are charged with plotting to rob and kill her before dumping her body in a river in June 2011 - and admitted she had lax security and only discovered of a plot to kill her when she was visited by the police.
Exeter Crown Court heard that the pair were arrested a few miles from Miss Stone's home near Ashill, mid-Devon, with an arsenal of weapons - including a samurai sword - in the boot of their Fiat Punto.
Miss Stone was at home at the time but said she was only aware of the incident when police contacted her later that day, and told the court: "Apart from someone (police) coming around to say someone is trying to kill me, it was a really nice day."
Speaking about the lack of security at her home, she said: "I've lived in Devon for a long time and nobody really shuts their door."
Describing the security arrangements at her home at the time of the alleged plot, Miss Stone - who said she was happy to be referred to in court by her real name, Jocelyn Stoker - said: "I had an alarm but I did not really turn it on very much. I didn't really have a lock on my door... But I do now."
She also agreed that the property, accessed by narrow lanes in a rural part of mid-Devon, was an "open house" for family, friends and her then-boyfriend, Danny Radford.
The court heard that the two defendants were arrested at around 9am on June 13 2011 and were earlier spoken to by police in Gloucester after their vehicle was severely damaged when it collided with railings and a stationary digger on the Michaelwood southbound slip road to the M5 near Bristol.
Officers told the court that they did not consider the vehicle able to be driven again, and so left it, having spoken to the defendants. One even said he looked briefly inside the car, but only spotted "a couple of print-outs".
At the trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks, Bradshaw, 32, and Liverpool, 35, both of St Stephen's Close, Manchester, deny charges of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause GBH and conspiracy to rob.
