Queenstown horse trainer acquitted of murder in UK

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A former Queenstown horse trainer, accused of killing her former boyfriend in Britain and watching his body burn on a garden bonfire while drinking red wine with a friend, has been found not guilty of murder.

A jury in England has returned a unanimous verdict in only three hours - one hour of which was a lunch break - after the six-week trial.

Kirsti Windsor, 38, had worked at Queenstown's Moonlight Stables for more than a year before moving back to England in early 2008 with her then boyfriend, the victim David Langdon, 40, who had also worked at the stables.

She and her friend Katie Brown were also cleared of perverting the course of justice by trying to burn the body.

Ms Windsor said the past 2 years had been "pure hell".

During the police investigation, pathologists could not give a cause of death and there was argument in court as to whether Mr Langdon was dead or unconscious when he ended up on the bonfire.

There were no signs of any violence on his body.

But police were adamant Ms Windsor must have killed him and her admission that she shared a glass of wine with a friend on the patio - out of sight of the bonfire - became an important part of the prosecution case.

Ms Windsor believed Mr Langdon killed himself.

She said: "Although Dave was never diagnosed with a medical condition, I believe he suffered from bipolar disorder."

The couple lived in Canada and New Zealand before moving to Wormelow, Herefordshire, where Ms Windsor set up a horse training business. But after a row, they agreed he would leave.

"He was caring but he drank a lot and had extreme mood swings," she said.

"When he was on a high he'd be full of energy and ideas. He'd spend all his money and be quite extravagant. But when he had a low he'd be depressed. He'd stay in bed all day or he'd go to the pub as soon as it opened ... and not come home till closing time."

When Mr Langdon went missing, Ms Windsor found some of his clothes and belongings in two bin bags in their truck.

"I knew then something was badly wrong. I'd seen my dog, Molly, sniffing around the bonfire so I went to investigate."

At the bottom of the garden, she saw her former lover's charred body.

"I called the police and was relieved when they arrived. I was incredibly upset and you think the police will help you."

But Ms Windsor was taken to the police station and arrested.

She has lodged complaints about her treatment by the police, and has written to her MP, the Justice Minister and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

"This ordeal has been incredibly hard mentally, physically and financially, and now I'm focusing on getting answers," she said.

- NZPA