Tragic Laura Davies whispered “help me” to police officers as she fought for her life after she being viciously attacked.

PC Alan Ratnage and Sgt John Woodley, from the Pitsea neighbourhood policing team, were first on the scene after a member of the public raised the alarm after walking past the Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society.

He had heard screams and thought he saw a man standing over a woman with a knife.

The two officers arrived at the scene at about 8.30pm and jumped over the gate to gain access to the sanctuary, in Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea.

They soon saw Taylor hunched over Laura’s body.

Sgt Woodley told the jury at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday: “As I was walking along, I was quite nervous because we of the information we had.

“I was looking around and didn’t know what to expect.

“I looked over to the left and saw this distinctive wishing well. I saw a man standing very close to that leaning forward as if he was looking into a bush.”

Within minutes, the officers had pinned Taylor to the floor with his hands behind his back.

Sgt Woodley added: “We grabbed an arm each and put him on the ground and he was handcuffed. I was asking him where the weapon was and he said that he had thrown it.

“I got the impression the impression that it was very close to where I was.”

After PC Ratnage confirmed that he had control of Taylor, Sgt Woodley was free to attend to Laura.

He said: “My first thought was that she was dead but when I turned my attention to her, I realised she was still alive.

“It was difficult to comprehend what I was looking at. I saw her eyes were moving backwards and her lips were moving.

“I heard her very faintly saying ‘help me’, it was barely audible. It was horrendous.”

Taylor was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and later on suspicion of attempted murder. As the officers were taking him towards the gate, he said: “It’s not what it looks like”.

Paramedics were called and fought to save Laura’s life at the scene. She was taken to Basildon Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 10.27pm.

A knife seized from the scene was bent out-of-shape and covered in blood.