THE woman accused of the brutal murder of Helmshore businesswoman Sadie Hartley acted like a besotted teenager when talking about her ski instructor love interest, a jury has heard.

A work colleague said she would seek out ex-firefighter Ian Johnston whenever he visited Manchester’s Chill Factore indoor ski centre.

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Williams, 35, a customer sales adviser at Crystal Ski Holidays, based at the Chill Factore, is said to have incapacitated Ms Hartley, 60, with a stun gun before stabbing her more than 40 times.

The prosecution said the defendant was obsessed with Mr Johnston, 57, who was said to have finished with her after she became possessive and difficult.

Crystal Ski sales manager Colin Pye said he recalled Williams speaking about a man named Ian last year.

In a statement read to Preston Crown Court, he said: “The way she talked about it was like a besotted teenager. She would not shut up.”

Mr Pye added: “I recall whenever she heard he was in the centre she would seek him out.”

Williams had worked in the shop for a couple of years after previously visiting as a customer with her partner, 75-year-old David Hardwick, to book holidays, the court heard.

Mr Pye said staff earned commission on sales and Williams was a top performer.

“Sarah was good at her job. Quite determined, sometimes she could be a bit too determined,” he said.

The jury was told that on January 14 this year, the day of the murder, Williams arrived at work about noon but soon went home ill.

At just after 8pm, communications director Ms Hartley received an unexpected knock on the door of her home in Sunny Bank Road, while Mr Johnston was abroad in Switzerland.

An assailant armed with a 500,000-volt stun gun pressed it to her head and then launched a frenzied knife attack.

Williams, of Treborth Road, Chester, denies murder. Her co-accused, Katrina Walsh, 56, also denies murder.

Walsh is said to have helped her friend and wrote about staging the ‘perfect murder’ in diaries recovered at her workplace.