Heather Jordan's mother tells court murder accused Martin Corns was 'creepy'

Jennifer Rigby said her daughter, Heather Jordan, was about to lodge a complaint of harassment at work against Martin Corns, who is on trial for her murder.

Corns, aged 52, allegedly killed 34-year-old Heather in a jealous rage after she rejected his advances and tore up his love letter.

She was found strangled in a shelter on Lyngford Park, Taunton, on the morning of Sunday February 18 this year with pieces of the letter scattered around her body.

The prosecution at Exeter Crown Court say Corns developed an obsession with her while they were both working as early morning cleaners at Boots.

READ MORE: Murder victim Heather Jordan tried to fight off attacker, court told

They went out for walks and trips together and exchanged letters and texts. They called their non-sexual relationship a ‘committed friendship’.

Corns allegedly strangled Heather as she walked across the park from her home in Pickeridge Close to her weekend cleaning job at the Coop at around 5.15am.

Heather lived with her mother Mrs Rigby, who heard her leaving the house as usual and began to worry when she did not return at her usual time of 7.45am.

She said her daughter had been upset by Corns’s attention and had not welcomed his Valentine’s Day gift of a dozen red roses two days before she died.

Corns, of Denmark Terrace, Taunton, denies murder. He says he was stealing petrol in another part of Taunton at the time, was not in the park, and had nothing to do with the killing.

Mrs Rigby told the jury her daughter was planning to lodge a complaint with supervisors about being followed around at work by Corns on the Monday.

She said:”Heather was not happy about it. She was stressed. She did not want to go to work and was looking for another job because she did not want to go to Boots.

“She spoke to me about a week before her death and said she was planning to apply for a job at Iceland. She said she was also going to make a complaint about Martin on Monday. It was about him following her around at work.

“She said she was worried that Martin might not like it.”

READ MORE: Heather Jordan was murdered in 'jealous rage', court hears

Mrs Rigby said on the night before the killing Heather was happier because she hoped to be moved to a different shift pattern in which she would not be working with Corns.

She said she had only met Corns once in person, when he came to her house to drop off a chair. She later made a statement to police about him.

She said:”I said I did not think he was all there in the brain department and that he was creepy. I did think he was creepy. I felt that just by looking at him.

“The police asked me to describe him and I said he was bald and fat.

“I also expressed concerns when she started seeing him for coffee outside work. I wish I had told her that work and romance do not mix.

“I expressed disapproval and I was proved right. That’s why she was looking for another job. She was a bit worried if she kept going for coffee he might take it was a date and more than friendship.”

The trial continues.