STAFF at a supported care complex had voiced concerns about the relationship between a former army cadet and the girlfriend he ended up strangling, a court heard today.

Daniel Lancaster and Anna Banks rarely left each other’s side in the days leading up to her killing, in December 2010, Manchester Crown Court was told.

Miss Banks was found dead by paramedics on December 22, with clear signs of strangulation, at Lancaster’s flat at Centaur Court, off Hawley Street, in Colne.

Prosecutor Louise Blackwell QC said staff had already become concerned about the “very obssessive nature of their relationship.”

Each was supposed to be undergoing treatment for different conditions, Lancaster had suffered a cannabis-induced pyschosis and Miss Banks had learning difficulties.

She had also suffered from alcohol foetal disorder while pregnant and a previous baby had been put into foster care.

The court heard it was difficult for staff to separate the pair, and stick to their care plans.

And concerns had been raised about Miss Bank’s vulnerability.

Giving evidence, support worker Aaron Rawcliffe said: “We were well aware that Anna had a sexual relationship with Danny.

"She was quite outspoken and she didn’t shy away from that fact in conversation.”

Six days before her death, Lancaster had texted his friend Christopher Peers Holland, and in a reference to Anna said: ‘She is wanting someone else’.

Peers replied, jokingly saying Lancaster should ‘slap her to get the information out of her’, the court heard.

Prosecutor Louise Blackwell told a jury that this was important as it showed Lancaster, already said to be in an obssessive state, had reason to suspect his girlfriend was in contact with a former partner.

Lancaster, 25, has claimed that he strangled his girlfriend in a sex game which went wrong.

But prosecutors allege he confessed to two cellmates that he had murdered her because she was cheating on him.

Lancaster admits manslaughter but denies murder.

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